Unnoticed and Unsaid
by Dannrose
Summary: The Thawfest Games have come and in the midst of the contest some old hurts come to light as a rivalry intensifies. Injury forcing him to sit out, Hiccup starts to notice something he hadn't before. Part of my 'Differently Similar' verse.
1. The Worries of Competition

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to my new story. I don't normally start a new plot driven story when I'm already doing one but this idea wouldn't leave me alone and it was too long to go in my one shot series. It's set in my 'Differently Similar' verse and it's during the ROB episode 'Thawfest' and will differ dramatically from that episode. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **The Worries of Competition**

Thawfest.

Hiccup both hated and loved this particular celebration. He hated it because it involved competing in three events of the Thawfest Games; the Sheep Lug, the Log Roll and the Axe Throwing all of which Hiccup failed miserably at which had only encouraged bullying and abuse from the other kids. However he also loved it because the same three events were things that Snotlout excelled at and his cousin always won the games earning some well-deserved recognition and that was hard to come by for the younger of the two cousins.

Even though Hiccup was considered weak and ill-suited to the role he was still the next in line to be chief which, for good or bad, meant he was usually taken note of. Snotlout was a different story, even though he lived in the chief's house a lot of people didn't really count him as a member of Stoick's family and since he was good friends with Hiccup he'd also been dubbed as 'different' causing most people to just ignore him. Things had obviously changed in recent months and Hiccup was now far more respected (ending a 300 year war would do that for you) but that made him overshadow Snotlout even more. This made Thawfest one of the few times Snotlout could enjoy some attention and respect from the rest of the village and Hiccup knew how much that meant to the other boy.

* * *

They were all in the arena training for the games when Gobber came up to the teens, a piece of parchment in his hand, "Dragons!" He announced, "They are now officially part of Thawfest. There will be three additional events. The fly and shoot, which will require you to fly straight and shoot straighter…HEY!"

He ducked as a ball of fire flew past his head and glared at the twins as Tuffnut called to him, "Sorry! We were on the wrong head."

Ruffnut spoke, "I knew something felt weird."

They swapped heads and Tuffnut sighed in relief, "Ahh, much better."

Shaking his head slightly Gobber continued, "Next, is the free-style. Where it's up to you to impress the judges with a trick of your choice."

"That's it, girl. Just like we practiced…"

Gobber left off his explanation briefly to admire Stormfly as she practiced her trick, "Ah! The Nadder Wing Walk. Impressive, Astrid."

Fishlegs spoke up nervously, "Um, excuse me." He stepped up in front of Gobber, "Meatlug and I were wondering if there were going to be any intellectual events." He paused as Gobber looked at him before finishing hopefully, "A puzzle perhaps?"

His face fell as Gobber answered, "I'll take that under advisement, Fishlegs." The blacksmith looked at the parchment before carrying on, "And let's not forget the hurdles! Where you'll be asked to…"

"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hooo!" Snotlout couldn't contain his excitement anymore and he spoke excitedly to his dragon, "This is gonna be awesome Hookfang! We can win this thing together."

"Not this year you're not!" They all looked to Astrid who had her arms folded confidently, "Me and Stormfly are going to win it this year, just watch."

Snotlout bristled, "Not gonna happen Astrid." He straightened proudly, "The Jorgenson clan has never lost a Thawfest Games and I am not gonna to be the first one to lose."

"You can kiss that claim goodbye, because this year it's going to be a Hofferson that claims the medal." Astrid strode over to her dragon, "C'mon Stormfly, let's go and train. We need to show Berk who the best Viking really is."

As she flew off Snotlout yelled after her, "Good luck with that cause me and Hookfang are gonna make sure that everyone knows it's not you!"

He got on Hookfang and also took to the air. As the other riders headed off, Hiccup remained where he was for a moment, though he'd heard rumours of it happening Gobber had confirmed that dragon events were indeed being added to the games, this left him with a problem.

The addition of dragon events meant that Hiccup now had a good chance to win the games for the first time, the flip side was that he'd have to take that victory from his cousin. The part of him that still needed to prove himself wanted to seize this chance and do everything to win, however there was another part that didn't want to steal his cousin's moment of triumph. It was the only time that Snotlout wasn't 'Stoick's nephew' or 'Hiccup's cousin', instead he was 'Snotlout Jorgenson, Thawfest's Reigning Champion' and wasn't simply dismissed as a spare person in the Haddock household, to take that from him just seemed…wrong.

Hiccup sighed and began heading off after the others, though still undecided about what he wanted he'd still have to prepare for the games which were due to start the day after next.

* * *

That night Hiccup lay awake in bed not really feeling sleepy, he'd been wrestling with the Thawfest problem for most of the day even as he designed a new tail fin for Toothless which was better suited for the dragon events. As he stared at the ceiling he continued to think about it, he didn't want to win only to lose his friendship with Snotlout in the process. A part of his mind was trying very hard to tell him that their friendship was too strong for something small like a tournament to break it but he was still worried. When Hiccup had been younger and his friends at the time began to turn away Snotlout had stayed firmly on his side leading to years when it had really just been the two of them and Hiccup didn't want to risk losing that, even if the risk was blown out of proportion by his admittedly highly cautious when it came to friendships, mind.

Seeing that just thinking about it wasn't going to get him anywhere, Hiccup sat up and he tentatively spoke, "Snotlout."

The lack of snoring from the other bed had told him his cousin was awake but even so there was a bit of shifting and a few sleepy growls before his cousin answered, "Yeah?"

Hiccup took a moment before speaking, "You know how they've added dragon events this year?"

"Yeah."

Snotlout sounded a bit more awake and, using the moonlight coming through the roof window, Hiccup could see him sitting up in bed staring at him as he continued, "Well those events might mean that I might actually win this year."

"I guess they do."

Snotlout sounded unsure why his cousin was mentioning this now and Hiccup took the plunge, "If I actually manage to win this year, are you going to be angry that I took the win that's always yours."

"No. Why would I be?"

Hiccup was thrown by the genuine confusion in his cousin's voice and he tried to explain, "I mean its…well it's always been…you know…it's you're…"

"Hiccup." Snotlout cut across him, "I have no problem with you trying to take the chance to win this year and I'm definitely not going to be angry if you do it. In fact," he leaned forward, "I think you should try and win this thing but don't expect me to make it easy for you, me and Hookfang are determined to claim this one as ours."

Grinning Hiccup answered the friendly challenge, "Well you two better watch out cause me and Toothless are going to fight till the end for this victory."

Hiccup could just about see Snotlout grinning back at him as the younger cousin answered, "May the best Viking win?"

"May the best Viking win." Hiccup confirmed.

Giving a satisfied nod Snotlout settled back down to sleep and Hiccup followed suite wondering why he had been worried in the first place.

* * *

 _ **PS-So there's chapter one and please let me know what you thought. I'll try and update soon but I don't want to shove my other story 'Of Fire and Warp Drives' to side so possibly see you soon.**_


	2. Dropped Out and Supicious

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and here is chapter two which marks a massive deviation from the original episode. You'll have noticed that I've changed the story's title because I've been thinking a bit more about its plot and its heading down a route that makes it unsuitable, it's not so much a plot change as an expansion to my original idea and we'll see how it goes. Thank you those who have reviewed and favourited/followed this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Dropped Out and Suspicious**

By the evening of the next day Hiccup couldn't decide whether he was really unlucky, the gods hated him or that they just had a very twisted sense of humour.

That morning Hiccup had woken feeling ready to train hard and win Thawfest and after his talk with Snotlout the night before he felt no worry over the outcome of the games. His father had been also been upbeat that morning, humming cheerfully as he roused the two boys with a jovial, 'C'mon lads, time to train for the games' and proceeding to create a hearty breakfast. As was normal it was quiet as they all ate hungrily until Gobber sauntered through the door without knocking as he always did, "Right! Where are my two trainees?" He came up to the table, "You'll never win if you waste your time filling your faces. Let's get to it already!"

The cousins bolted the rest of their breakfast and hurriedly got ready as Gobber chivvied them along like an impatient mother and soon they headed outside to start training. The morning was spent focusing on the original events and, as always, Hiccup struggled greatly until Gobber let him stop and head off while he focused on Snotlout. Hiccup didn't mind the early release, he was never going to match the others at those events anyway and it gave him enough time to finish the new tailfin he'd started creating the day before. By the time afternoon had rolled around the new fin was ready to be tested and Toothless was eager to try it out.

It all seemed to be working perfectly, it responded well and the new design was helping Toothless turn tighter and fly faster as Hiccup wanted it to. However when they attempted to practice their trick for the games it all went horribly wrong. The tail fin suddenly gave way and snapped destabilising Toothless, of course this was also when Hiccup's safety harness decided to snap as well and he found himself leaving his dragon's back. His only salvation was the fact they weren't very high above the ground and what followed was a short, sharp but thankfully not fatal drop before he hit the ground hard and blacked out.

* * *

When he came to it was late afternoon and he was somehow in his own bed with his arm in a sling across his chest. He groggily sat up and saw Snotlout grinning at him in relief and Toothless came up and gently nuzzled him, using his free hand to pet the Night Fury Hiccup questioned his cousin, "What happened? I remember the tailfin breaking and falling off Toothless but that's about it."

Snotlout gave a brief recap, "Me and Gobber saw you fall and we hurried over to check you were okay. We found you lying on the ground with a dislocated shoulder and Gobber managed to put it back into place then we brought you back here. Gothi took a look at you while you were still out and said you had to wear the sling for a few days and then take it easy for a few weeks after that. Since then we've just been waiting for you to wake up."

"Oh." Hiccup looked at his immobilised arm, "I guess I'm not allowed to take part in the games then?"

"No," Snotlout confirmed, "Gothi was very specific about that but considering you fell off a dragon I think you largely came out on top in the end."

Hiccup agreed with him on that point, it could've been a lot worse and he was lucky that he and Toothless hadn't been as high up as they usually were when it all went wrong. Of course it would be him that would end up injuring himself and be unable to compete in the first Thawfest Games with dragon events. He sighed, yeah some power somewhere had it in for him.

* * *

The next morning the village was buzzing with excitement and Hiccup found it a bit of a novelty to be watching the games instead of competing.

As he followed his father through the crowd around the Academy's arena with his arm in its sling and Toothless behind him, he spotted Snotlout bouncing energetically and doing some limbering up inside. He also saw Fishlegs standing there nervously and the twins who were bickering as usual. Astrid was also warming up and as he watched she said something to Snotlout and he glowered at her as he responded. Something instinct stirred in Hiccup's mind and he suddenly felt like he needed to watch the games from inside the arena, with a quick excuse to his father he pushed back through the crowd with Toothless' help and entered the arena. Making his way around its edge unnoticed he kept an eye on the others and noticed some tension between them. At first glance it wasn't obvious but as he watched he could see that there was something up between Snotlout and the others, especially Astrid but he couldn't quite see what it was. Deciding to observe more he snuck round to a point where he was out of the way and out of sight and settled down to watch.

* * *

"Let the Thawfestival Games begin!"

At Stoick's announcement a roar sounded from the crowd and Mulch's voice sounded over it through a large horn which projected his voice, "The contestants are lining up for the Sheep Lug."

"It's a good day for lugging sheep, Mulch." Bucket said into the horn.

"Well, Bucket, every day's a good day for lugging sheep." Mulch responded before starting the competitors, "On your marks…get set…GO!"

The teens all moved forward burdened with a sheep, Snotlout quickly took the lead making it look easy but Astrid followed close behind. While not as fast, Fishlegs was in third and ploughed on gamely while the twins fell behind. Snotlout easily won and jumped up and down in happiness while Astrid gave him a look before walking away without speaking to him, even from his position at the other side of the arena Hiccup could see that she was fuming. To his surprise he saw that Fishlegs also didn't say anything to his cousin as he passed Snotlout, in fact it was like the other teen didn't even acknowledge the younger boy.

Mulch's voice sounded again, "The first point of the Thawfest Games goes to Snotlout!"

The crowd cheered and Stoick could be heard over the crowd, "Well done Snotlout! Keep it up!"

Even as he clapped along with the villigers Hiccup noticed that none of the other riders were doing so, in fact Astrid seemed to be glaring at Snotlout which confused him. While competitive, she'd usually show her appreciation when someone beat her at something unless she was suspicious of how they did it. This however wasn't suspicion but something more intense and angry and he couldn't work out what it was.

When a large chalk mark had been put under Snotlout's name on the flat cliff behind the arena Mulch once again projected his voice, "Next up is our traditional Log Roll event!"

As the crowd cheered in anticipation some Vikings quickly set up the long spinning log and locked it in position as the teens got on it. With them evenly spread along the log Mulch yelled 'go' and the Vikings released the locks keeping it still, at once it began rolling on its axis forcing the teens to keeping moving their feet to stay on. Fishlegs fell first and his waving arms smacked Astrid taking her down with him, the twins lasted a bit longer but almost simultaneously fell off. Snotlout jumped off the log punching the air in victory as he did so.

"And another point goes to Snotlout!" Mulch declared.

"That's my boy." Stoick's voice boomed out proudly as the crowd cheered, Snotlout waved briefly in acknowledgement before hurrying to the throwing line for the last event.

Again the other riders didn't clap along and Astrid threw Snotlout a glare before she donned her focused expression showing that she was prepping for the next event as Mulch announced it, "The next event is the Axe Throwing Contest, where accuracy is supreme!"

The target barrels had been swiftly set up and axes were placed between the teens, taking one Snotlout threw it hard and accurately at one of the targets.

"Bullseye!"

The crowd cheered at Mulch's announcement and Astrid quickly took an axe of her own and threw it, unfortunately Fishlegs had thrown his at the same time and the two weapons collided in the air ruining both their shots. The twins got carried away with the axes and began throwing them everywhere except at the barrels, they were quickly stopped and Mulch got up from where he'd ducked to avoid one of the wayward weapons to announce the result, "And that's point three for Snotlout!"

As the crowd cheered Hiccup could clearly hear his father's booming laugh of joy and he smiled as he watched Snotlout hold a fist up in victory. His smile fell slightly when he noticed that once more the other riders didn't clap along with the crowd and he took careful note of their reactions. The twins seemed to be so embroiled in talking about how amazing throwing the axes around so he couldn't really guess what they were thinking about. Fishlegs kept nervously looking at Astrid and Hiccup thought that he was worried about how she was going to react to him having ruined her chances of victory twice, however the other boy also kept giving Snotlout an odd look and he couldn't quite work out what it was. Astrid herself was standing with her arms crossed giving Snotlout a look that was a glare mixed with determination which was something beyond simple competitiveness and he couldn't quite see where it was coming from.

Looking to the side he addressed Toothless beside him, "There's something I'm missing here bud."

The dragon rumbled in agreement.

* * *

Later, when the crowd had largely dispersed Hiccup approached Snotlout who was sat with Hookfang staring at the scoreboard.

His cousin scratched the Nightmare's head, "Well Hookfang, if we do well tomorrow then we'll be the absolute winners."

"Not going to happen Snotlout!"

At Astrid's words Hiccup had stopped his approach and watched, unnoticed, as she strode up to his cousin.

Snotlout stood up and faced her, "And why's that?"

She stood right in front of him, "Because I'm going to win tomorrow,you got lucky today but you and that Snotmare of yours don't stand a chance against me and Stormfly."

"Keep dreaming Astrid, me and Hookfang are ready for tomorrow and we are going to win, you'll see."

"Not this year Snotlout. There's no way I'm going to let it happen." With that Astrid spun and stalked off and Snotlout glared after her before getting on Hookfang and taking to the air.

As they left Hiccup watched them go confused, something in their tone and voices had been more than over competitiveness and if he wasn't already sure he was now. There was definitely something going on that was a bit more than just the games and it was something they were hiding from him.

That made him determined to find out what.

* * *

 _ **PS-So Hiccup's suspicious but what exactly is the thing he's missing. Feel free to give me your guesses and I'll try to update soon.**_


	3. Dragon Points Lost

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the third chapter. Firstly thank you for the reviews and I'm glad people like this story so far. This chapter is the Dragon Events and ended up far longer than I thought and hopefully gives more hints to what's going on between the riders.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Dragon Points Lost**

Hiccup didn't see much of Snotlout or Astrid for the rest of the day except glimpses of their dragons as they flew around Berk practicing. In fact most of his afternoon had been spent revising the new additions to the Book of Dragons which he'd been meaning to do for a while. As expected Fishlegs had been very through in adding what new discoveries they made so there was very little that had been missed, this was fortunate because Hiccup's mind was only half on the task because he was still puzzling over what was happening between the other riders.

While it was no secret that Snotlout and Astrid had a rivalry they had always seemed to keep it in check but it seemed that it had jumped to a whole new level for Thawfest. Astrid's determination to win could stem from a desire for someone other than Snotlout winning the games but it was more like something to do with Snotlout himself. Family rivalry could also explain it but he didn't think the Hofferson's had any rivalry with any of the other clans and as Snotlout was the only Jorgenson on Berk there wasn't one stemming from there either. Also the other teens seemed to be involved somehow as well but he had no idea how which left an inexplicable undercurrent among all the competing teens.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly and Toothless gave him a nudge, looking outside he saw that it was sunset and that the Night Fury wanted his normal evening flight. Stretching his good arm he stood up from the table he'd been sitting at, "Sorry bud but I'm not allowed to go flying yet. Gothi's orders." Toothless gave a discontented grumble and moodily stalked outside as Hiccup followed, "C'mon Toothless, I want to go flying as much as you do but if Dad or Gobber saw I'd be in major trouble and it'd be even worse if Gothi caught me. That women is very handy with that staff of hers. In fact I think she could take out a dragon by herself with it."

The dragon snorted disbelievingly and they walked back in the direction of the house with Toothless pointedly looking away from his rider. As the two friends wandered through the village square he noticed the other teens gathered around Snotlout at one end of it, suspicious of what was going on he approached but before he got much closer they noticed him and all turned to face him. Astrid smiled, "Hi Hiccup, we were just about to turn in to get a good rest for tomorrow."

Fishlegs hurried forward, "Oh Hiccup did you get a chance to revise my notes in the Book of Dragons?"

Smiling at the boy's eagerness, Hiccup answered, "I've just finished, good work as always Fishlegs."

Fishlegs grinned happily, "Thank you."

Snotlout began moving away, "I should probably go and get some rest, Hookfang's already asleep and if I don't turn in soon I'll probably be too tired tomorrow to compete properly."

As he hurried away leaving a 'Goodnight' behind him the other riders also began heading off to their own homes and Hiccup called after them, "Good luck in the games tomorrow guys."

Astrid and Fishlegs waved back in acknowledgement while the twins were either too far away or too focused on yet another argument to hear him. As they disappeared into their houses Hiccup frowned slightly, they'd largely acted like they normally did but there'd been a lingering tension in the air and Snotlout had hurried away quickly which was unusual.

He still didn't know what was going on and he decided to watch tomorrow's events unnoticed as he had done that morning to see if he could get more information.

* * *

As expected Snotlout was conked out in bed snoring by the time Hiccup got home and his father was cheerfully doing some odd jobs around the house. After a few questions about how Hiccup was doing and was his shoulder okay he sent him off to bed with a cautionary, "Try not to wake your cousin Hiccup. He's got a big day tomorrow and needs all the rest he can get." With a quiet goodnight Hiccup and Toothless slipped upstairs and into bed planning to awaken early tomorrow and get to the arena first.

As planned Hiccup was up before Snotlout and hurriedly got out of bed and ready for the day before his younger cousin awoke, his father had already gone out to oversee last minute preparations for that day's events and Hiccup managed to eat breakfast and get out the door unhindered. As he left the house he saw Thornado fly down and stick his head through the roof window. There was the unmistakeable roar of a Thunderdrum and Hiccup knew that his cousin was now awake, since he'd partnered with the chief Thornado had made a habit of waking up Snotlout in the mornings and he'd proven to be an effective alarm for the younger boy. Hurrying on Hiccup made his way to the arena wanting to get there before the other teens.

* * *

Despite having to walk there Hiccup successfully got there first and he installed himself in the same corner as before to watch the others arrive. Snotlout appeared first with Hookfang close behind and they went straight to the arena's edge and began doing what looked like warm up exercises, Hiccup had to admit it was kind of funny to see a Monstrous Nightmare trying to perform star jumps and press-ups but it seemed to be doing the job. Astrid was next to arrive with Stormfly and Fishlegs and Meatlug followed close behind, Astrid and Stormfly also went to a corner and warmed up while Fishlegs started feeding Meatlug a variety of rocks as he waited. Ruffnut and Tuffnut finally arrived with Barf and Belch when the stands around the arena had largely filled just before the games were due to start. Stoick gave the signal for the games to start and Mulch spoke grandly out, "Welcome to day two of the Thawfest Games!"

The crowd cheered and Mulch waited for them to quiet down before continuing, "Let the Dragon Events begin!"

More cheers and Bucket's voice was heard, "It's a good day for lugging sheep, Mulch."

Ignoring his companion Mulch introduced the first event, "First up, the Hurdles! And first up is Fishlegs!"

Meatlug and Fishlegs took off and buzzed slowly around to face the hurdles, they charged full pelt at them and then became wedged firmly underneath the first one. Fishlegs spoke up from his awkward position, "Um, guys! A little help over here!" He addressed the Gronkle, "It's okay, girl. This just isn't our event."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut went next and in true Thorston twin style they failed to communicate and one head tried to go over the hurdle as the other attempted to go under. There was a loud, messy flurry of dragon, twin and hurdle as they crashed along the arena floor, ending up in a tangled heap against the wall.

When some Vikings had finally managed to untangle them and reset the hurdles Astrid took her shot, she and Stormfly flew gracefully under each of the hurdles and even managed to finish with an elegant twirl as the crowd roared with approval and Mulch proclaimed excitedly, "And Astrid makes a perfect run!"

Snotlout and Hookfang were last and they flew powerfully forward and dived beneath the hurdles, unfortunately they'd judged it slightly wrong and Hiccup winced as he heard the dull clanging of Snotlout's helmet as his head hit every single one of the hurdles. He got off Hookfang dazedly and the Nightmare crooned at him with apologetic worry, blinking to try and refocus his vision Snotlout tried to assure his dragon, "It's okay Hookfang, I've got a thick skull."

Astrid snorted, "You can say that again."

Mulch's voice rang out, "And the end of that event marks Astrid's first point!"

As the crowd cheered and clapped Hiccup saw that the other teens were clapping as well and even though he looked a bit disappointed Snotlout was also politely applauding Astrid's win. Waving at the crowd Astrid walked straight past Snotlout without even looking at him and Hiccup noticed a look of something like hurt pass across his cousin's face before it quickly vanished.

* * *

"Next we have the Free-Style event! Contestants and their dragons show off their style and abilities!"

As the crowd roared in approval after Mulch's announcement, the twins took their position, "Check this out!" Ruffnut shouted excitedly.

"We call it the 'Iron Split!'" As Tuffnut yelled, Barf and Belch took to the air and tried some bizarre manoeuvre that resulted in them flipping and landing heavily on the arena floor.

Next up was Fishlegs and Meatlug and the boy spoke up from the Gronkle's back, "We like to call this next feat of daring… 'The Extreme Butterfly!'" Meatlug's wings began moving rapidly but something went wrong and the Gronkle span out of control and crash landed. Fishlegs instantly began soothing his dragon, "It's okay, girl. This just isn't our event either."

Astrid followed and she and Stormfly performed and elegant, acrobatic dance in the air as everyone watched in awe and Fishlegs commented in wonder, "'The Balance Dance'…How does she make it look so easy?" Hiccup had to admit that it was an incredible sight and he actually saw a couple of techniques that he wanted to try with Toothless when his shoulder was better.

Finally it was Snotlout's turn and three large metal rings were placed upright in a line in the centre of the arena. Tuffnut spoke to his sister as they set them up, "I hear Snotlout's going to try a trick called 'The Deadly Rings of Fire'. No one's ever tried it before."

She answered him, "Yeah! Because it's too dangerous."

"No!" Tuffnut replied, "Because he just made it up."

They then laughed like he'd said some kind of joke and Hiccup turned his attention to his cousin who was facing the rings on Hookfang feeling just a little bit concerned for his younger cousin.

Hookfang shot forward as he sent a jet of flame through the rings setting them alight. Rapidly approaching the first one the dragon brought his wings in to pass through it but he was just a bit late and one of the tips caught the ring's edge. Thrown off mid-flight he spiralled violently unintentionally throwing Snotlout off his back, the boy tumbled through the air before landing directly on one of the other burning rings.

"YOWCH!" Leaping off the ring, Snotlout sprinted to the nearest water trough with smoke billowing behind him and sat in it with a sizzling sound and a cloud of steam. As Hookfang ran over to his rider in concern Hiccup was well aware of the crowd laughing at his cousin. Snotlout seemed shrink in at the sound and he scurried off with Hookfang close behind to the arena's edge not looking up from the floor as Astrid celebrated her second win and the other riders applauded along with the crowd.

* * *

The next event was happening out in the sea stacks around the arena and the crowd moved to the cliff edge to watch as Mulch announced it, "The contestants are lined up for the Fly-and-Shoot, where they must shoot down their foes and spare their friends!"

The twins went first and failed miserably as they shot anything that looked remotely like a target, including members of the crowd. Fishlegs came next and while exceptionally accurate he and Meatlug weren't quite quick enough to get all the enemies. Astrid was third and she and Stormfly put on an amazing display of speed and accuracy managing to get every enemy without hitting a single friendly gaining massive applause from the crowd.

Once again Snotlout was last and he and Hookfang accurately took down the first enemy, unfortunately the blast also ruptured one of the flour bags holding it in place covering the Nightmare's nose as he flew past. With his sensitive snout irritated by the flour, Hookfang began sneezing uncontrollably firing flame jets left right and centre hitting anything and everything. Unable to do anything to stop it Snotlout just hung on grimly while Mulch commentated to the crowd, "This does not look good for the reigning Thawfestival Champion!"

Just as Mulch said this, Hookfang gave a massive sneeze and Snotlout was once again flung from the saddle but this time he was several hundred feet above the sea. There were gasps of concern from the crowd and Hiccup was about to try and get Toothless in the air and to his cousin in time when the ever watchful Thornado zoomed in from the side neatly catching the falling boy on his back. Giving a sigh of relief, Hiccup watched the Thunderdrum bring Snotlout back as Hookfang followed behind still giving the occasional sneeze.

By the time they'd landed the third point had already been given to Astrid and the other teens and the crowd were cheering her as she celebrated. Mulch's voice was brimming with excitement as it rang over the clamour, "And for the first time in Thawfest history, we have a tie! Tomorrow, these two young Vikings will go head-to-head in an event to decide the Thawfest champion!"

While the crowd whooped and cheered Hiccup headed over to where his father was already checking Snotlout over to make sure he was okay, from what he could see it appeared that, although shaken, his cousin was unharmed and he was already comforting Hookfang who was nuzzling him apologetically. Hiccup noticed that none of the other riders were there and looking back he saw them all gathered around Astrid talking excitedly about tomorrow's event. He felt a stab of annoyance and an uneasy feeling crept into his mind as he turned back and went to see Snotlout.

* * *

 _ **PS-I hope you liked that and please let me know what you thought. I'll try and update soon so hopefully see you later.**_


	4. Tie-Breaker

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter four, this chapter, as you've probably gathered from the title, is the tie-breaker event. Thank you everyone who has favourited or is following this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Tie-Breaker**

The village was buzzing as people speculated on what the tie breaker was going to be like the following day and if he wasn't so caught up in his own thoughts Hiccup might have been with Fishlegs and the twins discussing it as well. As it was he largely kept to himself and busied himself with some odd jobs here and there that were manageable without the use of both arms. As he worked he heard snatches of conversations of passing Vikings and by listening in he discovered that Astrid was the favourite to win, indeed anyone that wasn't speculating on the coming day was praising her skill in the Dragon Events and there was very little mention of Snotlout at all.

The few times he'd seen Fishlegs and the twins they'd also been talking about Astrid's performance with awe and, according to what he'd heard them say, they knew that there was a dragon race involved in the tie breaker which they were also speculating on. After hearing this Hiccup began weighing up Snotlout's chances of winning, while Astrid and Stormfly had been impressive that morning he was pretty sure Snotlout and Hookfang still had a good chance of victory. In terms of straight speed Stormfly was quicker than Hookfang but Hiccup knew that Snotlout had been working on improving the Nightmare's agility, added to that was that he'd seen that the two of them could really surprise you when they were both fully focused and he was certain they would be. Most of Snotlout's losses that day could actually be attributed to very minor mistakes or just bad luck. Unfortunately his cousin could turn some small incident into a massive catastrophe completely by accident, an ability they both seemed to share.

Even though these thoughts crossed his mind, Hiccup was still largely trying to work out what was happening between Snotlout and the others. At first Astrid had been determined to win but as soon as she started to it was like Snotlout became completely unimportant. The others wholly celebrated her wins but they hadn't shown any such support for Snotlout when he'd been winning, in fact they also seemed to just completely ignore him when Astrid began beating him. Hiccup felt like he had a lot of peices to a puzzle but had somehow forgotten a vital one that would make it all make sense.

The day wore on and the afternoon drifted away to be replaced by evening. Finishing up, Hiccup yawned and headed back to his house. Toothless had finally accepted that he wouldn't be flying for a while and the dragon bounded happily ahead, occasionally pouncing on some flowers or stones for fun. They reached the house at the same time as Snotlout and Toothless mischievously jumped on him and began licking his face.

"Ack! Toothless stop it!" Snotlout tried to shove the dragon off him but the Night Fury only moved once he'd well and truly covered the boy in slobber. Snotlout sat up from where he'd fallen on his back and glared at the dragon, "Do you have to do that? Now I smell of Night Fury drool." Toothless just sat in front of him looking pleased with himself and the teen got up off the floor as Hiccup joined them, "Can't you stop him doing that to me?"

Hiccup just laughed, "Sorry Snotlout, I don't think I can but I can fetch some water for you so you can have a bath."

His cousin quickly stopped him, "No Hiccup I can get the water. You're supposed to be taking it easy after all."

Without giving Hiccup time to answer Snotlout hurried inside, he was out a few seconds later carrying two buckets and headed off to the well. Hiccup shrugged at Toothless and they went into the house. Stoick must have come home briefly at some point between preparing for tomorrow because although he wasn't in the house there was a simple meal of bread, meat and yak milk waiting on the table inside as well as a basket load of fish for Toothless. Hiccup fed his dragon and started eating his share of the food expecting Snotlout to get back soon.

* * *

He'd long since finished his meal and Snotlout still hadn't reappeared making Hiccup wonder what was taking him so long. He'd just decided to find out what had happened to his cousin when Snotlout came through the door panting like he'd been running. He went past Hiccup and placed the two full buckets down on the floor before facing the older cousin, at Hiccup's questioning look he shrugged, "I decided to take the longer route there and back running with the buckets, its good training for tomorrow."

With that he proceeded to pull out the tub used as the bath and started heating the water for it. Hiccup frowned as he did this feeling certain that whatever the reason for the long time to fetch the water it was not what Snotlout said it was.

* * *

"Welcome to the final deciding event of this year's Thawfest Games. The Obstacle Race Course! Take it away Gobber!"

There was a hush as Gobber explained what was about to happen in a clear voice, both for the two competitors and the crowd, "The race will start here in the stadium, where, after the Log Dodge, and the Cliff Climb, Astrid and Snotlout will get on their dragons, loop around the flagship anchored off the coast, slam through the sea stack maze, then head back here! The first one to pass that finish line is the winner!"

As the crowd cheered excitedly Gobber hurried out to the finish line and Mulch's voice sounded, "Vikings and Dragons! Take your positions!" Snotlout and Astrid both positioned themselves on the starting line and Mulch started them.

"On your mark…get set…GO!"

Both of them shot off towards the Log Dodge with Astrid just a fraction ahead, easily dodging the rolling logs they both reached the base of the Cliff Climb and began climbing. The climb was made harder by the Vikings at the top throwing rocks down at them but Snotlout soon began to pull ahead with his superior stamina. Suddenly he was struck by one of the falling rocks making him falter in his progress slightly, as Hiccup watched from where he was standing with the other teens he heard Tuffnut remark, "Ooh! Rock to the face! Heh, I love a good rock to the face."

Another rock landed solidly on Snotlout and Tuffnut whooped excitedly, "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!"

The hit caused Snotlout to lose his grip and he began sliding back down the cliff as Mulch commentated with both excitement and slight worry, "He's falling!"

Fishlegs covered his eyes, "I can't watch!"

Recovering swiftly Snotlout regained his grip and began climbing again, "That's my boy!" Even with Stoick's encouraging shout the setback allowed Astrid enough time to catch up and Snotlout now didn't have the lead he'd managed to create and they reached the top of the cliff at the same time.

Once again the boy's superior stamina assisted him as he had just a little bit more energy for a small burst of speed allowing him to reach his dragon first, swiftly mounting Hookfang they took off just ahead of Astrid and Stormfly. It wasn't long before the Nadder caught up and when they rounded the flagship Stormfly managed to take the turn slightly tighter than Hookfang and slip into first place. Hiccup noticed that many people seemed to think that it was now over but Snotlout and Hookfang still had a surprise in their arsenal, the Monstrous Nightmare suddenly sped up dramatically and Hiccup found himself impressed as Mulch exclaimed excitedly, "Did ya see that, Bucket? That sudden burst of speed!"

Snotlout rapidly closed the gap between himself and Astrid and Hiccup could see her trying to block the Nightmare from going around them, Hookfang attempted to slip past but Stormfly noticed at the last minute nearly causing them to collide. This left them moments to decide on a path to avoid hitting a sea stack and Hookfang managed to twist himself in the air and take the shorter route forcing the Nadder onto the longer path. With Hookfang's shorter route and Stormfly's greater sustainable top speed the two dragons were neck and neck when they arrived at the final stretch.

Everyone began jumping up and down in their seats at the close race and tension mounted as the two riders approached with Mulch commentating excitedly, "And they're both neck and neck on the final stretch! This is going to be a close one!"

With only a couple of hundred metres left Astrid and Stormfly pulled out their trump trick. Suddenly the Nadder cut in front of Hookfang, caught off guard the Nightmare whipped his wings forward to stop his scorching paced flight. Stormfly however had kept going and flew full pelt managing to cross the finish line before Hookfang or Snotlout had realised what had happened.

"And Astrid is the winner of the Thawfest Games!" The crowd went wild at Mulch's announcement and the other teens rushed forward to greet Astrid as Mulch continued his excited speech, "For the first time in the history of Thawfest we have a Hofferson as the winner! This day is going to be remembered for years to come!"

As the other riders carried Astrid victoriously on their shoulders, Hiccup watched as Hookfang landed with a shocked looking Snotlout on his back. There was a moment where Snotlout just stared at the celebrating teens and the jubilant crowd before he dismounted Hookfang, gave his apologetic and exhausted dragon a congratulatory pat and then joined the crowd as they applauded the new Champion of the Thawfest Games.

For the first time in history a Jorgenson had lost the games.

* * *

 _ **PS-So who saw that result coming? Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	5. Sudden Clarity

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and here is chapter five where we really dive into the story. Thank you everyone who has reviewed, favourited and is following this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Sudden Clarity**

The celebration in the Great Hall was something to behold.

Now that the dragons didn't raid them they had food aplenty and the tables were piled high with cooked meat, fish, bread, cakes and Trader Johan had even managed to supply a large amount of exotic fruit when he'd last visited Berk a couple of days before. Mead flowed freely among the adults and yak milk, elderberry cordial and other less potent drinks were shared among the children and teenagers (Hamish the Second had created some underage drinking laws in his time which Berk still abided by).

Astrid was the centre of attention and there were a great many retellings of her achievements in the games. Hiccup had been practically dragged along with her to join in the celebrations and he hadn't had a chance to speak to Snotlout after Astrid was awarded her medal. Hiccup had caught a brief glimpse of his cousin through the crowd of people around his father, the younger boy was standing next to Stoick as the chief spoke to the Vikings gathered around him. Before he got a chance to head over that way, Astrid and the other teens had hustled him over to the food. He found it odd that Snotlout wasn't with them but he was left little opportunity to find out why as the other riders enjoyed the party wholeheartedly pulling Hiccup along with them.

* * *

Time flew as the celebrations went on and some of the young children had already been carried away in their mother's arms sleeping soundly having been tired out by the excitement, several Vikings were already drunk and more were still only tipsy but well on their way to full drunkenness. Though still rowdy, people had largely settled in seats around the tables with their friends, Hiccup spotted his father with Gobber, Bucket and Mulch enjoying himself despite going lighter on the mead than some of the others. He couldn't see Snotlout with them and as he looked around the hall he found no sign of his cousin.

Looking back at the others he saw Astrid and Fishlegs discussing Stormfly's manoeuvres in the games while the twins seemed to be having a serious conversation about their food. With them otherwise occupied Hiccup slipped off and made his way round the hall to see his father.

He was slowed up a bit by a couple of people asking about his shoulder but he eventually reached his father, "Dad." Stoick looked round at his son and Hiccup continued, "Have you seen Snotlout?"

His father looked thoughtful for a moment, "No Hiccup, he disappeared a while ago saying he was going to see how Hookfang was doing. I thought he'd come back and was with the rest of you."

"Okay, thanks Dad."

Stoick nodded at his son before turning back to Gobber and the others as Hiccup headed off outside to look for Snotlout. Toothless met him at the door having retreated outside for a bit to escape the rowdy Vikings and the two of them went off together in search of their friend.

* * *

The first place they looked was Hookfang's pen in the arena and they found it empty, they then checked the house to find that empty to and so they went to the other most likely place.

As expected Hiccup found both Snotlout and Hookfang at the top of one of the east facing cliffs. The Nightmare was curled around his rider meaning they couldn't see Snotlout and the dragon looked round as they approached, he looked threatening at first but relaxed when he saw who it was and turned his attention back to the hidden teen. Slightly surprised by the dragon's welcome Hiccup and Toothless shared a look before Hiccup walked slowly forward, "Snotlout."

There was a pause before his cousin's voice came back sounding slightly thick, "Hiccup?"

Hiccup took another couple of steps forward in concern, "Are you okay?"

"Yes." The reply came back just a bit too quickly and Hiccup waited a moment until there was a sigh and another answer came, "Not really."

Making their way around Hookfang, Hiccup and Toothless found Snotlout curled into the dragon's side crying. Hiccup stopped in surprise for a moment before he walked over and gently sat next to his younger cousin, Toothless also came over and nuzzled the boy but when he didn't get the response he expected he curled up at the boys' feet giving some comforting croons. Snotlout wiped his eyes but in the moonlight Hiccup could see that his tears were still flowing, not entirely sure what to do Hiccup placed his arm around the younger boy's shoulders and they sat in silence for a while.

Eventually Hiccup spoke, "How long have you been out here?"

Snotlout sniffled before answering "Not sure, I went to check on Hookfang and then we came here. I just wanted some time to think about stuff."

"Thawfest?"

"Sort off." Snotlout hugged his knees, "I don't like the idea of being the first Jorgenson to lose the games but I guess someone else had to win eventually. If anything I wanted you to be the one to do it, you deserve it more than others." He sighed, "But it looks like someone somewhere doesn't want it to happen that way."

Hiccup began to push him a bit, "It's not just Thawfest is it?" Snotlout looked away and Hiccup tried a different tack, "Snotlout, you know that I just want to help." His cousin still didn't answer and he kept pressing, "Something's been going on since Thawfest started but I have no idea what it is. We've had each other's backs since we were five, please if something's happening I want to help you with it."

Snotlout still remained silent as tears continued to flow and Hiccup didn't know what to do next. He'd rarely seen his younger cousin cry and he was certain it had something to do with what he'd been noticing all Thawfest. The very fact that Snotlout rarely cried made Hiccup more determined to try and fix what was happening but he didn't know how.

He was about to say something else when Snotlout finally answered him, "I thought that things had changed."

His cousin buried his head in his hands and began crying properly as both Hookfang and Toothless began nuzzling him in concern, neither dragon was exactly sure what was wrong but they tried their best to comfort the boy. Though confused by his cousin's answer Hiccup went to also comfort Snotlout but a voice interrupted him,

"Hiccup?"

Reluctantly Hiccup stood up from where he'd been sitting and looked to see Fishlegs standing there. Upon seeing him the other boy hurried over, "We've been looking for you everywhere. We noticed you'd left the celebrations and we wondered if you were okay."

Hiccup felt a stab of irritation, he could hear Snotlout still crying and he was certain that Fishlegs could too. That and they hadn't bothered to look for the other boy when he'd disappeared from the party earlier but they were all out looking for him when he'd done the same thing, didn't they care about Snotlout as well?

Suddenly he understood it all with perfect clarity.

Everything he'd noticed over the last couple of days, Astrid's sudden over competitiveness followed by not even noticing her rival, the attitude of the other teens when they cheered one but not the other, Snotlout now crying and what he'd just said now had an explanation and he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it sooner.

They didn't see Snotlout any differently than they had done for the last ten years, the new found respect Hiccup had had not changed things for his cousin and he was still the outcast among his own age group.

Looking back Hiccup could see that fact in everything that had happened. Astrid had always been that determined to beat Snotlout but she'd seen the dragon events as her chance to actually do it, she believed that she deserved the victory more than Snotlout and when she started winning he was no longer a rival and he was treated with the same coldness she used to always treat both him and Hiccup. Ruffnut and Tuffnut didn't care who won Thawfest but they'd often picked on Snotlout for pranks and things if Hiccup wasn't available and now that the older cousin was so respected the younger one was the only one left to be the victim. Fishlegs had always tried to keep his head down and if the joke wasn't on him then he'd laugh along if only to prevent the others from trying to target him, as time passed he'd begun to make the comments and jokes to further protect himself and now they were training dragons he'd begun to also flaunt his superior knowledge.

In hindsight Hiccup could see evidence of Snotlout's treatment throughout their previous adventures, the speed Astrid would cut Snotlout down when he said something without thinking, Fishlegs' condescending corrections when he got some bit of dragon knowledge or intellectual matter wrong, the twins making him the target of their various tricks and pranks and the more he thought about it the more he questioned his friends.

Were their friendships really built on such shallow beginnings? If he hadn't defeated the Red Death would he still be being treated the same way he had been? Would it still have just been him and Snotlout on their own, unnoticed by their peers unless they'd done something wrong?

Thinking back Hiccup realised there'd never really been any sort of apology from them for the last ten years, it happened so quickly there hadn't been time to think about things like that and suddenly they had the Dragon Academy and were acting like the last ten years had never happened and they'd always been friends.

Fishlegs had continued to talk while all these thoughts raced through Hiccup's mind, the other boy hadn't been paying the crying Snotlout any mind whatsoever and Hiccup felt anger surge through him,

"Shut up Fishlegs!"

It came out harsh and was completely unlike anything he'd say and Fishlegs instantly stopped talking, his eyes wide with surprise. Hiccup continued his voice calm but laced with anger, "Whatever it is I don't care about it right now so you can just leave us alone and tell the others that I'm not returning to Astrid's self-glorifying celebration because I have someone much more important who needs me right now."

He turned sharply on his heel and stalked back to Snotlout, Toothless gave Fishlegs a low growl when he didn't leave straight away and the boy scurried off back to the Great Hall. Shoving his anger at the others aside Hiccup sat back down beside his younger cousin and gave the crying boy a hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't realise sooner."

Snotlout hugged him back.

"It's not your fault."

* * *

 _ **PS- So what did you think of that and did anyone guess what was coming? Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	6. Comfort for the Tears of a Decade

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and here is chapter six, it's mostly tearful fluffiness and probably makes Snotlout the most OOC I've made him. Thank you everyone who reviewed the last chapter and is continuing to support this fic and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Comfort for the Tears of a Decade**

Snotlout continued crying in Hiccup's arms and the older boy simply held his cousin and let him shed his tears.

Snotlout had proven before that he was very good at holding his real emotions in and not once over the last ten years had he ever shown how much the others' actions had hurt him. Now though Hiccup was certain that his cousin had been having more and more difficulty hiding them and Thawfest had simply cracked the wall enough to let it shatter so he simply couldn't hold them back anymore.

Hiccup himself wasn't sure what he was supposed to be feeling right now but largely anger was prominent, both at the others for their treatment and actions and at himself for not noticing what Snotlout was going through sooner. There was also hurt there too for what he'd been put through by them and how they seemed to think that it was all simply forgotten with no apology or sign of repentance. He'd felt a slight feeling of satisfaction when he'd snapped at Fishlegs earlier and even now he was coming up with so many other things he could of said to the boy. This was a new feeling for him as he didn't usually enjoy striking out at others having been on the receiving end of such actions many times himself but this time he felt that Fishlegs had kind of deserved it even if another part of him did not like this idea one bit.

He decided to sort out his own feelings later and focused on comforting Snotlout, the younger boy was in a far worse state than him and he owed it to him for not realising until now what was going on. Hiccup placed his chin on Snotlout's head and continued holding him while the boy wept into his chest, Hookfang gently rubbed his head against his rider's back while Toothless lay close to the boy's side giving a comforting purring noise. They remained this way for a while but Snotlout's tears showed little sign of stopping and Hiccup understood exactly why.

A decade worth of tears for being shunted aside and ignored was a lot to hold back and Hiccup knew only too well the pain that was causing them and he held him tighter trying to tell his cousin that he understood what he was feeling.

* * *

The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted their much needed peace and Hiccup was certain who it was that was coming. He sensed Hookfang raise his head and turn towards the new arrival before giving a low warning growl. The footsteps stopped abruptly at this but a voice easily recognised as Astrid's called out angrily, "Hiccup where are you!? I know you're there!"

He felt Snotlout tense slightly at her voice and even though there were many things Hiccup wanted to say to her right then he chose to stay silent and patted his cousin's back reassuringly. Though he'd hoped she wouldn't he had been pretty sure that she would have come to find them, Astrid was always one to tackle things head on and often with a good deal of aggression, but neither he nor Snotlout wanted to deal with the other teens right now. He gave a small signal to Toothless even as he heard Astrid call out again, "Hiccup! I want to know what's going on. You've never…"

She got no further because Toothless pounced over Hookfang and stared her down growling, making it clear that she wasn't welcome. She called out again with surprise lacing her aggressive voice, "Hiccup…"

Another growl from Toothless interrupted her and she obviously decided that it was best to retreat when Hookfang also growled warningly because Hiccup heard some more footsteps stomp away and the two dragons settled again. Toothless slowly came back around Hookfang's body and crooned at Hiccup who gave his friend a small smile, "Thanks bud."

The Night Fury once again settled at their side and Snotlout mumbled to both of them, "Thank you."

"Neither of us are really ready to deal with her right now." Hiccup answered, "Besides, she turned away from us first."

* * *

The slight incident with Astrid had caused Snotlout to become even more upset and Hiccup decided that who they really needed was his father. It took a while but eventually he managed to get his weeping cousin on his feet and walking towards home, Hiccup had his arm around the boy's shoulders while the two dragons flanked them as closely as possible. The slowly made their way back to the house and Hiccup was thankful that the village was still largely occupied with the celebrations in the Great Hall so no one was around to see Snotlout in the state he was.

As Hiccup had hoped, his father was home early from the celebrations and was waiting for them to come home, when the two boys arrived he instantly noticed his nephew's tear stained face and hurried over, "Snotlout?"

Instead of answering the boy just hugged his uncle and buried his face into the man's tunic. Slightly surprised at Snotlout's reaction, Stoick gently wrapped his arms around the teen and looked to his son in askance. Hiccup slightly shook his head in response and nodding in understanding his father began leading Snotlout over to the big chair he slept in. The chief sat down and placed his nephew on his lap like he had done before when nightmares had ravaged the boy's sleep when he'd been younger, though now a teenager Snotlout was still small and very short when compared to his uncle and he could still easily fit on Stoick's lap. Being reassured just by being with his uncle Snotlout snuggled himself into the man's embrace like he had several years ago and placed his head on his uncle's chest. Hookfang had followed them into the house and the dragon carefully manoeuvred his large body so that it was curled around the chair they were in and settled down as Toothless gently nuzzled Snotlout before settling down on the floor at Stoick's feet himself.

Hiccup briefly slipped upstairs and grabbed a blanket from his bed before returning to his father and cousin. Snotlout was already on his way into slumber and Hiccup quietly made his way over to his father, Stoick smiled at him and Hiccup softly slipped in the gap between his father's legs and Toothless' body. The dragon automatically shifted so he was curled around his rider as he gave a low purring sound, with his head resting on Toothless' warm body Hiccup pulled the blanket around him even as his father managed to somehow reach down and ruffle his son's hair. Smiling Hiccup felt himself drift off to sleep while the house was peaceful except for the soft snores of his cousin indicating that Snotlout's tears had finally given way to peaceful dreams.

* * *

 _ **PS-So fluffy family hugs all round this time and I'll start getting into what Hiccup is going to do about everything next chapter. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	7. Dawning Rage

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter. Thank you everyone who is continuing to support this fic and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Dawning Rage**

Dawn was just peering over the horizon when Hiccup stirred.

Cautiously he stretched his arms to test how his injured shoulder was healing and found it to be okay, his movements disturbed Toothless and the Night Fury lifted his head and yawned as Hiccup carefully stood. His father and Snotlout were still sound asleep in the big chair and Hiccup and Toothless quietly stole over to the door and slipped outside leaving them to continue sleeping.

* * *

Early morning dew glinted in the watery sunshine like specks of diamond and a couple of particularly active Terrible Terrors went past in lazy pursuit of a scurrying brown rat while a couple more were perched on rooftops giving the dragon equivalent of the dawn chorus over the still morning. No one was around and Hiccup took a moment to savour the peacefulness of dawn before striding off into the forest and towards the Cove, enjoying the brisk invigorating air as he did so.

Currently shaded from the sun the Cove was fairly cold but Hiccup was unbothered by the temperature as he made his way down into it and sat near the pool's edge. Leaning back against Toothless who'd settled behind him, Hiccup allowed his thoughts to focus on the other teens.

He still felt a great deal of anger bubbling below the surface alongside his hurt on top of a fear that the friendships he thought he had formed were nothing but lies created for the gain of the others. He tried to understand why they did what they did but in the end he could see no reason that would excuse them because they were all rooted in the same basic idea.

He and Snotlout were 'different'.

It was this set idea among them that caused everything and made them all abandon them when they were old enough to understand it. From that point they simply ignored them both until they did something wrong whereupon they would bully them mercilessly for it. To be honest Hiccup didn't know which of the two was worse; the hurtful comments and disgusted looks or the not acknowledging them whenever they met. Suddenly when he was apparently doing well in Dragon Training he was the most popular person in the village, then he took Astrid on that flight seemingly changing her way of thinking. This was quickly followed by the encounter with Hookfang in the arena and the fight with the Red Death after which he awoke to a village full of dragons and the apparent respect of everyone.

Looking back now Hiccup was almost scornful of the other teens, almost the moment he began doing something right in their eyes it was like the last ten years never happened and he'd always been accepted and he knew that he couldn't let go of it that easily. He especially couldn't let it go now that he'd realised that Snotlout had remained ostracised from the others and had been effectively trampled over by them, Astrid and Fishlegs especially, in their bid to gain Hiccup's favour. With this in mind, Hiccup was determined to make sure that they knew exactly what they'd done to both him and Snotlout.

The sound of flapping wings broke into his thoughts and Hiccup looked up to see Stormfly swoop in and land in the Cove bearing Astrid on her back. The girl's face was stony as she dismounted and Hiccup kept his blank as he stood along with Toothless, normally the Night Fury would've run over and begun playing with Stormfly but the dragon could sense his rider's tension and remained firmly by his side as Astrid approached.

The girl folded her arms and spoke curtly, "Hiccup."

Hiccup's voice remained neutral as he answered, "Astrid."

They stared at each other for a couple of minutes before Hiccup spoke again, "Did you enjoy celebrating your great victory last night."

His voice held an edge that even Hiccup couldn't identify and Astrid's eyes narrowed before she gave her reply, "Mostly but Fishlegs told me that someone called it my 'self-glorifying celebration' and said they had something more important happening."

"You'll find that the second part of the phrase was more like ' _someone_ more important who needs me right now'" Though this correction alone was far more vicious than Hiccup normally was he couldn't stop continuing with savage sarcasm, "Though I can't think who'd be more important than Astrid Hofferson, the best Viking of her age."

Astrid bristled at his uncharacteristic jab and took a step forward but Hiccup stood his ground as she snarled back, "And what's that supposed to mean, _Hiccup_?"

The emphasis on his name (which basically meant runt) was a definite snipe at him and Hiccup's already dangerously volatile anger only grew and he stepped forward himself, "Oh I don't know, maybe it meant that I was bothering to care about someone who had finally given in to a decade's worth of hurt after what you and everyone else had put him through because I know exactly how he felt having been treated exactly the same way." The memory of Snotlout's state the night before had pushed his anger and now Hiccup was in full flow, "Or it could mean that I won't just accept you all continuing to treat him the same way you have done for the last ten years. Or maybe it meant that I can't forget how we'd both been ignored and shunted aside by the rest of you because you all decided we weren't good for anything except being the butt of your jokes. Or it meant that after all that I just can't let it go and act like it never happened until you've apologised and proven that it's not simply because you see me as something to help enhance your own ego." Hiccup was now practically shouting as he vented his anger and hurt, "Or it possibly meant that I will not let you guys continue mistreat the only one of you that stayed on my side and didn't simply become my friend because I'm no longer considered the runt of the village!"

Unknowingly Hiccup had marched forward as he'd ranted and was now practically nose to nose with Astrid whose eyes were wide with shock. Practically shaking with rage Hiccup glared at her unflinchingly until she finally turned, mounted Stormfly and took off without looking back or saying a word.

Hiccup glared at her as she left until Toothless nudged him and gave a concerned rumble. Suddenly feeling exhausted Hiccup turned to his friend and gave him a pat on his head, "Sorry bud, but I think that rant has been due for a long time."

* * *

Hiccup returned home to find that it was nearly lunchtime and his father had long since woken and left the house.

Entering he saw Snotlout still in the big chair sleeping peacefully, he was effectively wrapped in Stoick's large fur cape and Hiccup could see him cuddling a corner of it in his sleep. Hookfang was also still there with his head resting on one of the chair arms near his rider's head, the dragon was awake and looked up briefly as they entered before returning his attention to the sleeping boy. Snotlout didn't even stir as Hiccup shuffled about the house fetching various bits and pieces, the older boy felt an urge to be doing something but he didn't want to leave the house and meet the others nor leave his cousin alone so he quickly got all his drawing and writing materials from his room and settled down at the big table near the fire pit feeling his churning emotions calm as he did so.

* * *

 _ **PS- Apologies if you found Hiccup OOC but considering what he's been through I think its justified. Please let me know what you thought.**_


	8. Out of the Crowd

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter eight. Thank you everyone for your reviews and to those who've pointed out that Astrid and Fishlegs seem OOC I hope this chapter gives a good reason for Fishlegs' thinking.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Out of the Crowd**

Fishlegs watched nervously as Astrid decimated training dummies in the Academy arena with her axe.

Unknown to either Hiccup or Astrid, he'd actually been nearby on the edge of the Cove during their confrontation and had heard everything. Though his words may have been aimed at Astrid what Hiccup had said had hit Fishlegs hard and the boy found himself looking at the situation and himself in a whole new light, it was only added to by the encounter he'd had with the twins shortly afterwards which revealed yet more information about what had happened.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut had actually looked guilty when he'd seen them and had actually been looking for him or Astrid for help on what to do. They said that they'd seen Snotlout at the celebrations the night before and had begun to jokingly mock him for his first ever Thawfest loss. They hadn't thought about what they were doing and they'd simply laughed when he'd hurried off in what they thought was embarrassment not realising that he was actually hiding tears. Later when they were out in the village they'd seen Hiccup and Snotlout go past on the way to their house with Snotlout clearly weeping and it had been obvious to even them that it was at least partly their fault.

This also answered why Hiccup had been so hostile to Fishlegs the night before and he now found himself wishing that he hadn't been so focused on finding Hiccup which meant he barely registered Snotlout's state. At the time it hadn't felt important and Fishlegs hated the fact that he'd reached the stage where Snotlout could be weeping just feet away from him and he wouldn't notice. This all filled him with almost unbearable guilt and it had prompted him to find Astrid and to try and work out the best way to properly make amends and prove to Hiccup that they were truly sorry.

Unfortunately it looked like Astrid hadn't calmed enough yet to look at things with the harsh clarity he had so he waited for her to cool down to a more reasonable state. As he watched her continue her assault on the dummies he began looking back trying to see why he'd turned his back on his friends and how he'd reached the point he had.

The catalyst point had been when they were five, his memories of that time were blurry but he remembered that they'd all played together often then until Snotlout was orphaned. Understandably the younger boy had closed himself off in grief during that time and it was a long time before he finally recovered enough to begin joining the others again, Astrid had then lost her uncle to the Flightmare shortly afterward and she became more driven to become a warrior thus beginning to focus more on her training. Ruffnut and Tuffnut also began to change their focus to wreaking havoc and with the more noticeable mutterings of the adults saying how Hiccup was 'different' drove them to make him the target more often than others. By the time Snotlout started playing with them again the group had already begun to splinter and their old friendships were rapidly vanishing, Fishlegs had remained Hiccup and Snotlout's friend the longest but after Snoggletogg when they were eight he'd found himself the target of continuous ridicule by the twins himself and began to drift away from the two cousins. By this time many in the village were noticing Hiccup's 'un-vikingness' and were quietly talking about the boy with concern, doubting he'd make a good Viking chief or even just a 'normal' Viking. One overheard conversation between Fishlegs' uncle and father where they'd both expressed concerns that Hiccup and Snotlout would prove to be debilitating influences on Fishlegs caused him to finally turn away from them entirely and instead embrace the company of his much loved books.

Though still targeted by ridicule from others Fishlegs soon discovered that laughing along with them at Hiccup and Snotlout and throwing the odd comment their way was a good way to redirect attention from him and he selfishly began employing the method to remain un-bullied. He'd felt guilty at first but the fact most of the adults didn't intervene and support the two boys made him start to believe that it was an okay thing to do and so he began to ignore the guilt and continued his hurtful method of selfish defence.

This is how things remained until Dragon Training began where things began to alter drastically. At first it largely went as expected until Hiccup began to apparently defeat the dragons with ease and the others started to swarm around him in appreciation, by this time following the crowd had become almost second nature to Fishlegs and he joined the rush to congratulate and side with Hiccup along with the others thinking that maybe they could once again be friends. The incident with the soon to be named Hookfang shattered this momentarily until Astrid appeared demanding that he help Hiccup defeat the Red Death alongside the others, ever one to follow the group Fishlegs joined them and met Meatlug for the first time.

This opened his eyes, not only to what dragons truly were but to what Hiccup was himself. The other boy, kind of like himself, didn't just charge into things and hope brute force would win like many Vikings but would try to find another way that would avoid the conflict to begin with. On top of this he had courage, which Fishlegs was painfully aware that he himself lacked, and natural leadership allowing him to alter his plans on the fly and readjust them to suit the situation and through this Fishlegs knew that what everyone thought had been wrong. By the time the dust settled and Hiccup woke from unconsciousness, Fishlegs and the others had given him their full respect and when Hiccup didn't bring up the issue of the last decade they seemed to all assume that he'd forgiven them.

Snotlout on the other hand was an entirely different matter in their eyes and they still followed the ingrained thought that he was someone to be shunted aside and ignored.

Looking back properly over the last ten years Fishlegs saw that in many cases wherever Hiccup was Snotlout wasn't far away and more than once the other boy had struck out for his cousin when someone had taken their mockery of Hiccup just that bit too far. It went the other way as well, although Hiccup simply made himself the target instead of taking the more physical approach but it still had the intended result of protecting Snotlout. Thawfest altered the balance slightly in that for the duration of the games Snotlout was impossible to mock, he won every year with a perfect score continuing the Jorgenson's age long winning streak. The rest took out their frustration on Hiccup who was right at the other end of the scale and always ended up dead last and the boy never let his younger cousin know what was happening to make sure he enjoyed his moment of glory as much as possible.

When Dragon Training came around and Hiccup became the village celebrity Snotlout was shoved even further aside by everyone trying to spend time with their new hero, if Hiccup was nowhere to be found then he became the only one left to target or to be treated as some book to be used to learn Hiccup's techniques and then forgotten when he didn't have the information required. By the time Hiccup was in charge of the Academy Fishlegs was well known as probably the most knowledgeable teen when it came to dragons making him the go to person if Hiccup wasn't available. Fishlegs enjoyed the new position he had and in hindsight he saw that he let it get to his head a bit, whenever Snotlout or the twins got something wrong he found himself correcting them and he saw now he did so with quite a bit of posturing and smugness. A notable case was when he and Astrid went against Snotlout and the twins in a quiz on dragon knowledge, they'd let the others start with ten points and they'd still won and Fishlegs could clearly remember poking fun at them for their lack of knowledge and intelligence and now couldn't understand why it was that funny. The last few days had really shown his attitude and he now wished he could've acted differently.

With the addition of the Dragon Events to the Thawfest Games they'd all seen a chance for Snotlout to finally be beaten. In Fishlegs admittedly blinkered eyes Snotlout was a mediocre Dragon Rider and he was certain he wouldn't hold a candle to Hiccup and Toothless, then Hiccup had injured his arm which left Astrid as the most likely one to do it and she'd been more than willing to seize the moment. Now Fishlegs understood that they'd all been caught up in the desires of their parents, the fact that a Jorgenson had never lost was well known and even though they cheered Snotlout on there was a definite sense that many of the other families wanted to be the ones to end that achievement. He'd also heard them talk about how arrogant and boastful Spitelout had been whenever he won and some of those who's competed against him had decided that his son was no different. This thought had crept into Fishlegs' mind so when Snotlout did win he only saw an arrogant victory of an overconfident brat when it was really just a boy who was happy he'd won. This completely incorrect interpretation of Snotlout's actions caused Fishlegs to want Snotlout's defeat even more and when the boy started losing he began to see a failed Rider with no knowledge and no skill with dragons.

Thus he failed to see the hurt that was rapidly growing in someone who never deserved the treatment he received. He let the opinions of others sway his views to the point that he was failing to use the very observations skills he prided himself on and never noticed the damage he was causing. He let his own preconceived notions dictate his judgement and now things had finally reached a critical point and there was a very large void of hurt and mistreatment yawning between the riders.

Suddenly filled with resolve Fishlegs knew that it was time to do what he hadn't for far too long and step away from the crowd and face up to what he'd done. There was no excuse for what he'd chosen to do and he needed to make it right, he could clearly see his part in what had happened and even if it wouldn't fix everything it might be the very thing that slaps the others in the face and forces them to look at what they'd done properly.

Fishlegs left Astrid to her anger infused training and strode out of the arena making his way to the two people he'd failed to be a friend to.

* * *

 _ **PS- So very long that one but it's hopefully done the job, I'll get on to Astrid and the twins soon but the next chapter will likely be Fishlegs again. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	9. Sincerity

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and here is chapter nine for you all. Thank you everyone who is supporting this story and it's been really interesting to see the division of opinion among you all about who is or isn't OOC. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Sincerity**

It was late afternoon before Snotlout stirred and Hiccup looked up from his design of a new shield to see him shuffle around a bit before opening his eyes and sitting up. Hookfang stuck his head on his rider's lap and Snotlout happily gave him scratches as he turned to his cousin.

They remained quiet for a bit before Snotlout finally asked a question, "How long have I been asleep for?"

"All last night and most of the day." Hiccup answered, "How are you feeling?"

Snotlout shrugged "Maybe a little better." He sighed, "But it's not something that's just going to go away."

Hiccup agreed and they once again sat in silence until Snotlout spoke again, "Astrid came by often when you were unconscious." Hiccup looked at his cousin wondering where he was going with this as Snotlout continued, "One time she came by when I was feeling really down about what had happened after the arena and she was kind, almost understanding but when you woke up everything just seemed to fall back to what it had been." Snotlout looked away, "I don't know whether she just forgot about it or what but it was like the moment you came back into the picture I wasn't important again."

They remained quiet as Hiccup thought about this. Before the last few days he wouldn't have been surprised to hear about Astrid's kindness, she'd been one of his strongest supporters alongside Snotlout since she'd discovered Toothless and went on that flight. Now though he felt like he was seeing more of her whole personality and how she treated those she didn't like, Fishlegs and the twins acted differently and for different reasons but ended up with a similar result.

Hiccup sat back in his seat and sighed, "This is a mess." He snorted at himself, "Why didn't I think about it all sooner?"

"It's not your fault Hiccup." Snotlout answered consolingly, "You went from being considered 'useless' to Berk's hero in a few days. I think it all happened so quickly that no one really found the time to think about it."

"But I've had plenty of time since then." Hiccup countered, "How could I have not noticed that they hadn't really changed, did I really just forget about how we've been isolated and mocked for the last ten years." He leaned forward onto the table, "Did I really not notice what was happening to my closest friend."

Snotlout stood and went to sit across from his cousin, "It wasn't like I was making it obvious Hiccup, I guess I only felt it more because we hang out with the others so much now and Thawfest just proved too much. I probably should've known that it was all going to come out at some point, there is just too much there for it not to. It wasn't your fault."

Hiccup gave a small smile at his words, "Maybe not, thanks Snotlout."

There was a comfortable silence between the two cousins until Snotlout's stomach gave a loud growl, as the younger boy looked embarrassed Hiccup gave a small chuckle, "It sounds like someone's hungry."

Snotlout rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Yeah, I suppose we should think about eating something."

Smiling Hiccup stood and headed for the kitchen area, "I'll see if Dad's left anything for us."

Giving a grin of his own Snotlout also stood and went to give him a hand. There was peace in the house as the normal task of preparing food helped them push thoughts of recent events away for a short while until a knock on the door signalled its end.

* * *

Snotlout was loading some meat into a sandwich when the knock sounded and both he and Hiccup looked at each other.

While it could've simply been a villager looking for the chief both boys were worried in case it wasn't. Hiccup didn't feel ready to face any of the other teens after his explosion at Astrid earlier and Snotlout could see his reluctance. In his case his previous night's sorrow had been pretty much spent and his hurt was expressing itself as anger instead making him reluctant to face the others as well. He knew that if he did so it would all surge forward and he wasn't sure what the end result would be.

They remained frozen for a moment before the younger teen steeled himself and took the step to answer the door, discovering that it wasn't a villager but Fishlegs standing on their doorstep.

Snotlout's anger did indeed bubble at the sight of the other teen and his voice was noticeably cold, "Fishlegs. Are you wanting to speak to Hiccup?"

The older boy shuffled nervously, "Well yes…"

"That's not surprising." Snotlout cut across him as his anger began to surge, "I mean now that he's your new hero why shouldn't you speak to him whenever you want. It's not like you ignored or bullied him for the last ten years as well as treating me the same way." Snotlout began to launch into a anger infused rant that, unbeknownst to him, echoed the sentiments of Hiccup's one at Astrid that morning, "I mean who cares about ten years of bullying and taunts so why can't we just act like it never happened. It only isolated me and Hiccup from everyone else and made us question whether we were actually any use to anyone." Snotlout's voice had risen and while caught up in his own rant he didn't the Vikings around him begin to watch what was happening, "How do you think we felt all that time with our own friends turning on us as the rest of the village muttered about how useless we were or how we would never be 'real' Vikings! How do you think I felt when everyone just ignored my existence and treated me like some extra tool to be shoved aside, when the only time anyone would ever notice me was when I won those stupid games every year or when I messed up! How do you think I feel every day when you all mock and scorn me as you show off for Hiccup's favour even though you treated him like dirt for a decade!"

Hiccup had come up behind his cousin and placed a hand on his shoulder effectively calming him and halting his enraged speech. As Snotlout stood breathing heavily after his outburst for a moment he noticed the other Vikings staring at him in shock and made to go back into the house. As he turned away a meek voice sounded behind him,

"I don't know."

Snotlout turned back to face Fishlegs in surprise and slight confusion and the other boy spoke again, "I don't know how you felt but I do know that I can't even begin to know what you went through." Fishlegs looked up at him, "I know that what I did...no...what I have been doing isn't right and I would understand if you can't ever forgive nor excuse me for it. I also know that a few words isn't going to be nearly enough but I need to say them if only to act as a start for me making amends." He bowed his head slightly before finishing, "I'm sorry for what I did to both of you. I'm sorry I turned away and followed the crowd. I'm sorry I let everyone else's views and actions control and decide my own and I'm sorry that I only went back on your side only when everyone else did. Most of all I'm sorry that I failed at being a real friend when both of you needed one and I failed to do anything about it until now."

He looked back up at them, "I know this may not be enough but I promise to try and make amends anyway I can from now on and I'll remain firmly on both your sides no matter what."

There was a hush following Fishlegs' speech and Snotlout and Hiccup simply gazed at him in silence as their thoughts and emotions whirled at what he said. Snotlout didn't know what to do as his anger was still very much present but he'd heard the sincerity in the other boy's words stopping him from responding. Eventually he simply turned and headed back into the house without a word.

While Fishlegs' was truly sorry and had given Snotlout a lot to think about he felt he couldn't forgive him just yet.

* * *

 _ **PS- So what do you think, forgive? Don't forgive? I'll probably focus on Astrid next chapter and maybe explain her point of view of the situation. Hopefully see you soon.**_


	10. Harshness of Hindsight

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter ten. As I said last chapter this one focuses on Astrid and has a fair bit of Ruffnut in it as well. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Harshness of Hindsight**

THUNK!

The axe embedded itself solidly dead in the centre of the target after Astrid threw it hard and she strode over and yanked it back out of the wood. Returning back a certain distance she sharply spun and lobbed it at yet another target scoring another perfect hit before repeating the motions again. She'd been in the arena ever since her confrontation with Hiccup and she hadn't even noticed Fishlegs arrive and leave again due to being so absorbed in her training and thoughts.

She didn't understand why Hiccup had gotten so angry earlier and why he suddenly seemed to hate her. He'd never spoken so harshly to anyone before and his jab at her Thawfest victory by calling it her 'self-glorifying celebration' had really struck hard, she didn't care about the glory of the win it was just time for someone other than a Jorgenson to win for once. Her father had said so himself after the Dragon Events had been announced and her mother had said how wonderful it would be if Astrid would be the first Hofferson to actually win, she fought hard and fair to claim victory and she thought Hiccup of all people would have congratulated her for her achievement. Instead of being congratulatory Hiccup had actually been insulted it and had even got Toothless to chase her away when she went to confront him about it, he'd happily joined in with the celebrations at first but suddenly he disappeared and didn't want to even speak to any of them.

She started a series of practice swings and parries as her thoughts moved on to that morning.

She'd admit that when she'd gone to find Hiccup she was still angry about the previous evening but she'd been willing to find out why he was acting the way he was. Then something in his voice had challenged her and she'd responded, maybe emphasising the fact he was a hiccup wasn't the best move but it surely didn't warrant the hate-filled response she'd got. She'd been one of the first on his side after she discovered Toothless and even before that she hadn't actively bullied him unlike some of the others, on top of that she'd been the one who'd convinced most of the others to join him in the fight against the Red Death and had continued to help him when he was placed in charge of the Academy. Now though it was like her victory at Thawfest made all of that moot and caused Hiccup to turn on her.

As she fanned her anger her axe swings became more and more violent and she swung, parried and hacked all around the arena until an unexpected voice interrupted her,

"Wow, are you gonna spend all day in a rage?"

She spun sharply and saw Ruffnut leaning against the arena entrance watching her. Oddly enough Tuffnut was nowhere to be seen but Astrid didn't really care at that moment, "What do you want?"

The other girl shrugged, "I was thinking about telling you that Hiccup's rant at you might not have been as unwarranted as you think."

Astrid turned her back on her, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Ruffnut sighed, "Fishlegs saw and heard that happened in the Cove and he told me and Tuff so we know what Hiccup said." She straightened up and stepped into the arena, "And, as always, he's got a point. So maybe if you actually stop convincing yourself you're the injured party you might actually see that for yourself."

Astrid looked back sharply, "I won Thawfest fair and square so I don't see why Hiccup has any reason to be angry at me for it."

Ruffnut threw up her hands in exasperation, "You still think this is all about Thawfest?" She stared at Astrid in disbelief, "And I thought I was stupid, this has got like nothing to do with Thawfest. It's more like everything before Thawfest." Astrid looked confused and Ruffnut explained exasperatedly, "It's to do with us mistreating both Hiccup and Snotlout. They've both finally had enough and are letting you know it, that's why Hiccup's so mad at you."

"If that's the case what about you and Tuffnut," Astrid demanded, "you were the ones that actively bullied them so why hasn't Hiccup exploded at you yet when I was the first one to trust him when it came to dragons and I've supported him ever since the Academy started."

"C'mon Astrid," Ruffnut countered, "I know you're not as blind and selfish as this, stop focusing on yourself and see things properly. You've supported Hiccup for a couple of months whereas we've all been treating them like dirt for ten years. I'm stupid and even I can see that a few months is nowhere near as long as a decade and we're all idiots because we all convinced ourselves that it was happily forgotten and Hiccup wouldn't actually mind us continuing to mistreat about the only person who stayed on his side. Why do you think Tuffnut's not here? He's trying to think of the best way to apologise to them both for everything we've done to them!"

Astrid wanted to retort but Ruffnut's words had struck home and she suddenly saw Hiccup's words as something more than an unwarranted rant. She could now see the years of frustration and hurt behind them and she looked back over her recent actions and saw that she'd blinded herself to how she was actually acting. As she looked further back she felt guilt at her claims of being the first to trust Hiccup and Toothless, yes she had been but she'd still treated the Night Fury as an enemy at first and if Hiccup hadn't followed her and taken her on that flight then she probably would've turned both boy and dragon over to the village without a second thought. Even before that she wasn't much better than the others, while she didn't actively bully the two cousins she didn't defend them either, in fact the only time she ever took note of either of them was when they somehow beat her at something and other than that she couldn't care less what happened to them.

The more she thought about it the more she saw what she was responsible for and she couldn't believe that she'd blinded herself so much. Was she really that self-absorbed that she didn't care about what had happened for the last decade, had she really convinced herself that it was all forgiven with no word of apology and that Snotlout didn't count in the new Berk Hiccup had started to create. Memories of before the Red Death came back and she remembered comforting Snotlout after he and Hiccup had been disowned, had she only done that purely to force him to get up and to join the others in Hiccup's plan, did she really think that Snotlout would've refused to help his cousin if she'd just told him Hiccup needed help? The answer was that Snotlout would've never abandoned his cousin with or without Astrid's assistance, he was loyal to the end and Hiccup returned that loyalty wholeheartedly. Maybe that was why she was so determined to beat him this year, though they'd been hanging out together a lot more none of the other teens were close to having the brotherly relationship Snotlout and Hiccup shared and maybe she'd seen that as Snotlout somehow making himself seem superior than the others and she wanted to put him in what she conceived as his place. It was the completely wrong way of thinking and the brutal hindsight Ruffnut had made her see showed Astrid how judgemental and blind she'd been.

As all this ran through her mind Ruffnut had remained standing where she was watching her and Astrid was glad the other girl had done what she did. Ruffnut knew that the best way to get Astrid thinking properly when she was mad was to aggressively debate with her and while lacking in the intellect department the female twin could give incredible insight into a social situation, even if it was in a harsh and brutal manner. More than once Astrid had been verbally slapped by her and she was grateful that Ruffnut continued to do so.

Looking back at the other girl Astrid gave a thankful smile, "Thanks Ruffnut."

She smiled back, "Anytime," she finished softly, "It's not like me and Tuff are any better, in some ways you could say we were the worst."

"It doesn't change what the rest of us did." Astrid replied, "It's probably going to take a lot to fix this."

Ruffnut finished solemnly, "A lot indeed."

* * *

 _ **PS- So Astrid gets a verbal slap and see's things differently. I hope this gives good reasons for how she's been acting and I'll try and update soon.**_


	11. A Little Faith

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and apologies for the slightly longer wait for this chapter. Unfortunately it's shorter than my previous ones but I thought it best to end it where I did so hopefully the next one will be longer. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **A Little Faith**

Fishlegs wasn't quite sure what to do after Snotlout went back inside without responding to his apology. Hiccup had remained outside for a few moments more before following his cousin into the house and shut the door behind him leaving Fishlegs standing on the doorstep.

He remained where he was for a while before turning away and making his way through the gathered crowd ignoring the occasional mutterings around him. His feet took him in the direction of home and as he approached it he found his mother standing there waiting for him. She smiled as he stopped in front of her and placed a hand on his shoulder, "That was well said Fishlegs. I'm proud that you've taken this step to make amends and I think it was something that more than one person needed to hear."

He noticed that her eyes flickered to his uncle Borik Ingerman, who was standing several feet away, and a couple of the other villagers shuffled guiltily as she said this. Fishlegs looked up at his mother, "Do you think they'll ever forgive?"

She sighed, "I'm not sure son, there's a lot they have to sort in their own minds and there's a lot of hurt they need to deal with. Whatever they eventually decide it's going to take some time and even if they do forgive they're not going to be fully trusting straight away. The best you can do is continue to prove that you meant what you said and keep the promise you made to them. The rest is up to them to decide what will happen." She smiled again, "Whatever happens you still did the right thing today and it's a step in the right direction."

She gave him an encouraging pat before turning back towards the house, "Now, no doubt your father and uncle will be airing their opinions tonight so we may as well make sure we've eaten well before dealing with them."

Fishlegs gave a small smile as he followed her inside, taking comfort in what she'd said.

* * *

When he re-entered the house after Fishlegs' apology, Hiccup found Snotlout sat cross legged on his bed toying with his old wooden bludgeon from when he was younger staring at the opposite wall. Hookfang was also crammed into the small room and had crushed himself as close to his rider as he could get with his head placed on the bed.

While Toothless chose to remain on the staircase because of the lack of space, Hiccup went over to his own bed and sat down facing his younger cousin. As they had already done several times that day they remained in thoughtful silence until Snotlout finally spoke, "Do you think he really meant it?"

Hiccup waited a moment before answering, "Yes I think he did mean it, in fact I'm certain he did."

"Does that make it better?" Snotlout asked, "Can we really trust what he said, that he'll keep to it?"

Hiccup understood exactly why Snotlout was asking those questions, Fishlegs had been one of their closest friends and had remained that way the longest. In the end though when push came to shove he turned against them like the others and that had cut them both deeply. How did they continue from this point, his apology was sincere but Fishlegs himself had also said that words weren't going to be enough so he'd promised he'd do everything he could to make amends. How though was unclear because neither he nor Snotlout knew what to do next, the words they'd said couldn't be unsaid especially since Snotlout had unintentionally vented all his feelings in front of half the village. Everything they'd kept locked up inside, all their emotions and feelings of hurt were now free to be seen by the world. Hiccup felt a measure of relief at finally letting it all loose but it still wasn't spent and now it couldn't be simply shoved back down and repressed, it was free and very much present and it wasn't going to go away or be ignored.

Knowing Snotlout was thinking similar thoughts Hiccup carefully considered his answer to the younger boy's questions before finally settling on one that felt right, "I guess that we're just going to have to put a little faith in him and his promise."

In a way it was the only thing they could do, they weren't nearly at the stage where they could forgive Fishlegs but they couldn't really shove aside his sincerity either, he'd genuinely tried to at least start making amends and the fact he did so in front of most of Berk said a lot in itself.

Snotlout sighed, "'A little faith', that makes it sound easy." He looked at Hiccup, "I'm not sure if I can do it."

Hiccup didn't answer and they remained in silence for a long time afterwards.

* * *

 _ **PS-So there we are, please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	12. Emotions and Questions

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and here is chapter twelve, this one is quite a long chapter for me so I guess it makes up for the shortness of the previous one. Thank you everyone who is continuing to support this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Emotions and Questions**

Many emotions lingered in the village that evening, happiness, sadness, worry, anger, calm and all the others that you would expect to find in any area where people lived together. However the events of that day were the source of a variety of reactions and discussions throughout the village. Some saw it as a another piece of gossip, others had been challenged by what they'd seen or heard about, more had felt their viewpoints threatened while others had seen things in a different way from before.

No matter where people stood on it personally, Snotlout's explosion at Fishlegs followed by the other boy's apology was something that was mentioned or discussed in many of the households of Berk and it was a topic that was closer to some than others.

* * *

In the Ingerman household an awkward silence was much in evidence.

As expected Fishlegs' uncle Borik had joined them that evening for dinner, occasionally giving his nephew a look that looked like a mix between disappointment and annoyance. Fishlegs' father was also eating with him but he maintained a thoughtful look and seemed to be very embroiled in his own thoughts. The teen's mother was serving the two men, having eaten with her son earlier, and she was noticeably colder to her brother-in-law than usual. Fishlegs himself was sat on the floor leaning against Meatlug holding an open book that he obviously wasn't actually reading waiting for the inevitable to begin. It was clear that everyone was thinking of the same topic but they were all waiting to see who would actually broach the subject.

In the end it was Borik who finally broke the silence, "That boy didn't deserve an apology from you."

Though he hadn't actually said any names it was clear that his words were directed at Fishlegs and they all knew who he meant by 'that boy'. In a way Fishlegs was impressed his uncle managed to remain silent this long as it was obvious the man had been wanting to say those words ever since he arrived. Normally the teen would have remained silent letting his uncle rant away but the promise he made earlier that day drove him to answer, "Snotlout and Hiccup have both deserved an apology for the last decade Uncle. What they didn't deserve was the treatment they got."

At his words the atmosphere in the room shifted slightly; Fishlegs' mother immediately tensed and eyed her brother-in-law as she prepared to back her son if necessary, his Father's eyes moved between his son and his brother as if waiting to see the end result of the brewing debate while Borik looked momentarily surprised that his nephew had actually challenged his words before he frowned and gave his verbal counter, "I'll be the first to admit that Hiccup has more than proved himself and that we all misjudged him but Snotlout…"

"Snotlout has also more than proved himself and certainly deserves far better than you think Borik." Fishlegs' mother nipped her view in from the side lines causing Borik to pause as he adjusted his strategy to deal with a second opponent, "I don't see how he's proven himself. He's overconfident, arrogant, reckless and nothing more than a replica of his father..."

"And maybe you're just seeing him the way you want to see him the same way I did."

Fishlegs' statement caused his uncle to once again stop speaking and his mother added her own words, "Everyone knows that you hated Spitelout Borik and I think you've simply transferred that hate to Snotlout. That boy has done nothing to you yet you insist on insulting him and saying he'll never do or be anything good."

Borik looked ready to argue further but his brother's quiet voice stopped him, "They're both right Borik. While I know why you hated Spitelout so much there's no reason to let that carry on to his son, we were both wrong about Hiccup so I don't see how you can continue to be so wrong about Snotlout. There isn't, nor has there ever been, a need to treat him the way you do and I think its past time for you to let old enmities die."

There was silence after the man's calmly spoken words in which Borik simply got up and left the house without a word. Fishlegs' mother sighed in exasperation, "How can that man not simply let it hatred of Spitelout go, what does hating Snotlout because of it even achieve?"

"Nothing," her husband said simply, "but he refuses to see how pointless and stupid it is so I doubt we'll ever change his mind. Mine on the other hand is an entirely different matter." He gave Fishlegs a small smile, "You did the right thing today son and people are going to think about both Snotlout's words and yours. Perhaps it'll also spur others into following your example."

Fishlegs returned his father's smile and their evening continued peacefully.

* * *

In the home of the Hoffersons the atmosphere was neither awkward nor silent.

Astrid's mother was a natural gossiper and Snotlout's outburst that day was a hot topic among the village gossips and she thought that her family had to hear everything she had heard. She hadn't actually been present for the event so her information had been gathered from others resulting in a garbled version of the incident largely filled with the woman's own speculations. Long experience had taught Astrid to never believe any of her mother's 'it's definitely true' pieces of gossip and usually she ignored them but after what happened to her that day this particular topic was hitting closer to home than she liked as her mother continued share the gossip.

"…and Mrs Crabbait who lives by the docks was there and she says that she's never seen Snotlout as angry as he was."

Astrid's mother had been addressing her own mother and Astrid's grandmother was quick to give her own view, "I bet it's to do with losing Thawfest my dear. He's the first Jorgenson in history to actually lose so it's likely that his outburst is a direct result of that."

"But why was Fishlegs apologising then? I mean it's not his fault Snotlout lost so what does he have to be sorry for?" Astrid tensed slightly as her mother said this since she knew full well what Fishlegs was sorry for. The two women didn't notice and continued their conversation, "Apparently both boys were practically in tears by the end of it so there must be more to it."

"You're right my dear." Astrid's gran responded "From what I know there was once some form of bad blood between the Ingermans and the Jorgensons, something to do with Spitelout's wife Helga."

Astrids mother leaned forward eagerly, "You don't think that Snotlout…?"

The older woman nodded sagely, "Mark my words dear, there is a lot about that boy that's murky. I wouldn't be surprised if Stoick has been keeping something from us."

Having had enough Astrid got up and retreated to Stormfly's stable leaving the two women to continue with their wild theories. As she sat with her dragon she found herself wondering how her mother and grandmother could get things so wrong. After Ruffnut had verbally slapped her, Tuffnut had found them and repeated everything that happened between Snotlout and Fishlegs word for word so she knew exactly what went on. Having been on the receiving end of Hiccup's own enraged rant that morning she could see the similarities in what both boys had said and were feeling, this now gave her a far clearer view of what was going on than her gossiping mother and grandmother and she hoped that their train of thought didn't spread through the village as that would only make things much worse. Her thoughts meandered onto what she was going to do and she found herself in the unusual position of not being sure where to go from here. She'd been right in saying that it was going to take a lot to fix this.

"Astrid?"

She looked up and saw her father standing at the stable entrance, he gave her a brief smile before walking in and sitting down beside her, "What's bothering you my little lass?"

Astrid sighed, "Mom and gran are both wrong you know."

He gave a gentle snort, "I don't think they've ever been right with their gossip but that's not what's bothering you."

He gently took her hand encouragingly and Astrid asked him the question she'd been asking herself, "What do you do when you've really hurt someone for a long time and you've never noticed until now?"

He took in a long breath thoughtfully, "I guess an apology is a good place to start but what happens after that depends on the people involved. However I believe that it has to be you that makes the first step and ask for forgiveness, just like Fishlegs did today."

Astrid wasn't surprised that her father knew what had really happened that day and he'd no doubt guessed parts of the rest of it as well, she placed her head on his shoulder, "Why didn't I notice what I was doing all those years?"

He pulled her into a hug, "It's called human nature and sometimes it blinds us to what is truly happening because we don't want to see it." He kissed her on the head, "You'll fix this somehow Astrid. I know you will."

* * *

The twins had gone to their mother right after Ruffnut had spoken to Astrid and they'd told her everything that had happened.

She'd always been more aware of what had been happening the last few years than others since she'd been the one that taught Snotlout to play the harp he'd inherited from his mother. This meant she'd seen more of him than the other Vikings had and her close friendship with Gobber meant she'd often seen Hiccup as well and now the day she'd been expecting for a while had arrived and Snotlout and Hiccup had finally vented their emotions.

She looked at her guilt filled children who were desperately trying to find a way to make amends for what they'd done to the two cousins and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, "I'm afraid you're right that it's going to take a long time to earn their trust again but it's something you're going to have to do."

"But how?"

Tuffnut sounded so unsure it tugged at her heart, "By proving you're truly sorry." She led her children over to the table and they faced her across it. She leaned forward showing she was expecting their full attention, "Firstly you need to say you're sorry, to both of them. Then you need prove you mean it by treating them better, they're not simply someone to mock or prank but are people that deserve respect. You can still tease and have fun but you need to know when it goes from fun to hurtful and make sure you don't cross that line. Finally you need to be patient, it's not going to happen quickly and it'll be a long time before they trust you completely but if you keep proving you can be trusted with their friendship then they will eventually give it to you."

The twins looked unusually thoughtful at her words and they shared a look before Ruffnut asked another question, "But how do we say we're sorry? We have no idea what words to use or where to start."

The women smiled at her two children, "That I can easily help you with. Tuffnut, can you fetch a charcoal pencil and some parchment please."

As Tuffnut went to fetch the items she gestured for Ruffnut to join her on her side of the table, when Tuffnut returned he placed the items in front of his mother and sat beside her as well. With both her children either side of her she ready a piece of parchment and the charcoal before speaking to her twins, "Now you two give me some ideas on what you think you should say and by the time we're finished we'll have written out the perfect apology."

For much of the evening they sat together trying to put to parchment all the things they felt needed to be said.

* * *

Stoick had been desperate to get back to his two boys ever since Gobber had told him about how Snotlout had exploded. Unfortunately his duties as chief had held him back and it was well into evening before he finally returned home.

Gobber had told him everything that Snotlout had said and it wasn't hard to connect that with boy's emotional state the night before. He couldn't believe he hadn't worked it out sooner and he felt that he'd somehow failed as a father for not noticing the hurt building in his two boys. He resolved to give them both all the support they needed and he hurried homeward as quickly as he could. The downstairs was dark and empty when he arrived but a small bit of light made its way down from the boy's room indicating that they were there. He made his way up the stairs and gently opened the door to a very crowded room.

Hookfang took up most of the floor space and Stoick was amazed that the Nightmare had managed to get his large body in, Toothless had clambered onto Hiccup's bed and was curled around his rider who was staring at the roof window lost in thought, Snotlout was on his own bed idly petting Hookfang's head which the dragon had placed right beside him. Stoick guessed that they'd all been there since Snotlout's outburst and he softly entered the room.

Both boys and dragons looked round at him when he entered and the look in Hiccup and Snotlout's eyes was enough to tell him the difficulties they were facing. Without speaking Stoick carefully manoeuvred himself around Hookfang and sat down on Snotlout's bed, he placed an arm around his nephew's shoulders and it only took a single gesture with the other for Hiccup to clamber over and settle in a similar position on his father's other side.

They stayed that way for a while before Snotlout finally spoke, "Uncle?"

"Aye lad."

"Is it wrong to be unsure if you can forgive someone?"

Stoick thought for a moment, "I'm not sure Snotlout, some people find some things easy to forgive while others find those same things hard to forgive."

"What if you know the person was sincere in his apology but you still can't stop questioning whether they truly meant it."

It was Hiccup that had asked and Stoick could see his son looking up at him, "In that case I don't believe it's wrong to not know if you can forgive them."

Snotlout also looked up at him, "Really?"

Stoick gave them both a gentle squeeze, "Sometimes people hurt us enough that we can't help but be mistrustful of their intentions, even if we're certain they are being true. Forgiveness can be one of the most difficult things to do but I think that there are times when it is the only way to begin to mend what has been hurt. It's a hard and long journey but it often has the best ending for all involved so that makes it worthwhile and the root of some of the strongest friendships."

Both boys were thinking hard about his words and he could sense their hope begin to grow as they heard them. Snotlout asked one final question, "Do you think that this is one of those times?"

Stoick smiled at both his boys, "Aye, I think it is."

* * *

 _ **PS-So a sweeping look at all the teens there. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.**_


	13. No Matter What

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and here is the thirteenth chapter. Thank you everyone for your encouraging support of this story, it's really helped keep writing it and I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **No Matter What**

Dawn broke in spectacular colour banishing a night of uncertainty and confused emotions. Very few members of the Academy had slept as well as they usually did as their thoughts had remained firmly on their relationships with each other.

It was these thoughts that had caused Hiccup and Snotlout to take to the sky upon their dragon partners at first light and head out over the ocean and away from Berk for the day. It was Hiccup's first time in the air for several days and he felt his worries retreat as he enjoyed being able to reach the sky with Toothless again. He could tell that Snotlout was also feeling more relaxed as he and Hookfang cut through the air alongside them, the dragons sensed their riders mood lighten and they started to go all out in an attempt to chase away their turmoil of emotions. The dragons swooped, dived and banked as they played their ever favourite game of aerial tag with the two boys whooping and cheering their respective dragon on. Gone were the memories of hurt and sorrow, the painful and confusing thoughts as the two cousins played together like they hadn't done since dragons had been befriended and soon everything they'd been carrying with them was forgotten for a morning. However such things would not simply vanish and as lunch came they landed on a small islet to rest and eat the food they'd brought with and discovered they weren't the only ones who'd left Berk for the day.

* * *

Fishlegs and Meatlug had also headed out to go somewhere away from the village and the mutterings and discussions of the previous day's events. They'd found a small islet to settle on with a plentiful supply of loose rocks for the Gronkle to enjoy and a view of the ocean that Fishlegs loved. He spent a lot of the morning composing a poem, a hobby that he'd always found helpful to calm and help him clear his own mind of whatever was worrying him. His day had been going peacefully until Hiccup and Snotlout unintentionally landed on the same islet causing the two parties to meet.

There was a long awkward pause as the cousins and the other boy simply stared at each other in surprise with memories of the previous day running through their minds. Fishlegs recovered first and quickly began climbing onto his Gronkle's back rapidly speaking as he did so, "I'm sorry I didn't think you guys would come here as well, I'll just head somewhere else and leave you guys in peace."

He was about to take off when Snotlout's voice stopped him, "Fishlegs, wait."

The older boy stopped what he was doing and stared at them. Snotlout hesitated and he shared a look with Hiccup before speaking again, "Fishlegs, we've been thinking about what you said yesterday and…well…I just wanted to know something."

Fishlegs dismounted Meatlug and stood before the cousins nervously, "What did you want know?"

"Well…it's like…erm…do you…I mean…" Snotlout was pausing and shuffling and Fishlegs could tell he was having immense difficulty trying to ask what he needed to. Hiccup stood beside his cousin and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder giving Snotlout the support he needed to finally vocalise the question.

"Did you truly mean what you said yesterday?"

Fishlegs could hear the fear in Snotlout's voice and he realised he'd never heard such vulnerability from the younger boy before. He could also hear the hurt that had led to the question being asked and he knew exactly why Snotlout had to ask it. Fishlegs realised exactly how much his answer meant to both cousins and he answered Snotlout's question.

"Yes."

Fishlegs hoped that the one simple word would be enough to express his guilt at what he'd done, that it would show the sincerity of his apology and maybe allow them to rebuild a solid friendship that would not ultimately collapse like their last one. There was silence everything seemed to still in anticipation of the reaction to Fishlegs simple yet meaningful answer.

Then Snotlout smiled.

He smiled a genuine, thankful smile at the Fishlegs as he replied, "Thank you."

Though also simple in construction his words held great meaning, they were an 'it may take a while but I think I can forgive you in time' and Fishlegs felt a lot of his worries of the situation fade away. It wasn't a full forgiveness and it didn't mean everything was fine but they'd put enough faith in his words and had given him the chance to prove he meant them.

Hiccup also smiled and gave him a small nod to show that he also felt the same way as his cousin and Fishlegs returned it before he remounted Meatlug and took off mentally vowing to keep to the promise he made no matter what.

* * *

As they watched Fishlegs and Meatlug fly away, Snotlout felt a little of the weight he'd been carrying lift. Hiccup stood with him and finally spoke to his cousin, "I think you did the right thing Snotlout and I'm sure dad would agree."

Snotlout turned to the older boy, "I just didn't see the point in holding onto the anger and hurt but I still needed to ask if he was really sincere."

Hiccup placed an arm around the boy's shoulders, "I know Snotlout, I understand why you had to and I think Fishlegs did as well."

They remained quiet for a bit before Snotlout spoke again, "What do you think will happen with the others?"

Hiccup paused before answering, "I'm not really sure. Only a couple of days ago I would've been but now…"

He trailed off leaving that thought hanging in the air for a moment before Snotlout brought up another one, "What about the rest of the village? Most of them heard what I said and how Fishlegs apologised, how have they been reacting?"

Hiccup sighed, "I don't know, probably every way we can think of and more but I don't think there's much we can do except take it as it comes." He gave a small smile, "Whatever happens we've got each other, dad, Toothless, Hookfang and Gobber and I think Fishlegs is now firmly on our side no matter what so I'm sure we'll manage."

Snotlout produced a small smile of his own and placed his own arm around Hiccup's shoulders, "You're right, we'll manage no matter what."

* * *

 _ **PS-So Fishlegs has now been sort of forgiven and the other teens will hopefully reappear soon. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	14. To Step Themselves

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and I am really sorry for the massive gap since my last update, I don't really have much of an excuse except I kept allowing myself to get distracted by other things so I apologise again. This chapter actually has a fair bit of Stoick in it so that makes a slight change this time around. Thank you everyone who is supporting this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **To Step Themselves**

It was drawing onto night by the time Hiccup and Snotlout finally returned to Berk.

After their meeting with Fishlegs and their acceptance of his apology they'd remained away from the village. Though feeling better after what had happened between them and the other boy, they'd still felt a need to be out of Berk for a while. With their burden slightly lifted and the dragons trying their best to help their riders forget their troubles, the afternoon passed in a happy blur as they played, flew and relaxed. Their thoughts of what was happening were never far away but for a day they were pushed to the side in favour of simpler, more positive ones. Eventually as the sky began to darken and the sun descended they regretfully turned back towards Berk and the troubles that were there.

They flew straight for their house and they found Stoick waiting for them inside. The chief smiled when he saw how their day away had lifted the two boy's spirits and he sat down at the table where he'd placed a modest meal. The cousins joined him eagerly and began tucking in with gusto and there was little conversation as they demolished the meal between the three of them. Despite the many differences between them, eating was somewhere where they all shared common ground, by which they all ate with incredible appetites and rarely left anything uneaten. In short order their plates were empty and a feeling of contentment hung around them, as the evening wore on Snotlout's eyelids began to noticeably droop and Stoick chuckled a little at his nephew, "You're falling asleep there lad, you should head for bed."

Snotlout made to protest but he interrupted himself with a huge yawn and saw his uncle's point, "I guess you're right uncle." He slowly stood up from the table, stretched and made his way to the upstairs room calling back as he went, "Goodnight."

Both Hiccup and Stoick gave their own 'goodnight' in reply and there was a bit of shuffling about upstairs and then silence which indicated that Snotlout had indeed gone to bed. Stoick partly expected Hiccup to soon follow suit but his son remained where he was as the chief began to clear up the remains from dinner. Sensing that his son was thinking about something, Stoick spoke as he continued clearing up, "It looks like Snotlout is feeling a lot happier then he has been."

"Yeah." That seemed to be all Hiccup was going to say but the boy continued after a short pause, "We met Fishlegs out among the islands today."

Stoick raised his eyebrows, "Oh?"

Hiccup gave a small smile, "Snotlout…well he didn't really forgive but he decided to give Fishlegs a chance. I think that's made the pain lessen slightly."

"And you?" Stoick prompted.

Hiccup looked up at him, "I did too and it's like I've lost a small part of a large burden." His smile broadened, "I guess it's the first step to healing, for all of us." His smile fell again, "I hope it happens a similar way with the others."

Stoick gently placed his hands on his son's shoulders, "It will Hiccup, I'm certain the events of the last couple of days has opened the eyes of the others and possibly more. Just give it time, you've both made great progress already so I'm sure you and Snotlout will go all the way."

Hiccup gave his father a thankful smile, "Thanks dad."

Stoick held his son's gaze for a moment before releasing his shoulders, "Now you should probably follow your cousin's example and head for bed. Tomorrow is a new day and no matter what happens you'll need to be well rested for it."

Hiccup gave a small nod and headed for the stairs with Toothless close behind, just before he vanished into his room he turned back again, "Goodnight dad."

"Goodnight Hiccup."

Hiccup gave his father another smile before disappearing into the room and heading for bed.

* * *

When Hiccup had gone Stoick gently frowned and sat thoughtfully in his great chair.

Ever since the day before he'd been paying close attention to how recent events had been taken by the rest of the village. He'd developed this habit many years ago not long after he became chief and had found that it was invaluable in his duties for leading Berk, if you kept your eyes and ears open you could get a good feel to the mood in the village and make decisions accordingly, this meant that very little passed his notice. Of course there were plenty of times when he had missed something vital (such as when his son was hiding a Night Fury) but largely he always had a good grasp on the general attitude of the village.

As far as he could tell that attitude varied a lot between the villagers, some felt guilty, others were angry, some weren't that bothered and yet others didn't really understand what had been happening. This variety of reactions caused a great deal of discussion amongst the Vikings and despite them all shutting up when they saw him he still picked up a lot of what they were thinking and saying. Thankfully the majority of the people Hiccup and Snotlout had most contact with were amongst those feeling guilty however there would always be those that simply couldn't see past their own views and remained angry at what had happened.

Borik Ingerman was the foremost among those who fell into that category and he'd been deriding Snotlout and his late father Spitelout here there and everywhere. Very few paid the man much attention but he still gained the support of a few other like-minded Vikings and Stoick made a note to keep a close eye on that particular group. It was highly unlikely they'd do much beyond muttering into their beards when they thought he couldn't hear them but he knew only too well how people could suddenly go from disagreement to open, aggressive enmity and he had no intention of letting either of his two boys be caught unawares, they had enough trouble as it was with Alvin renewing his attempts to conquer Berk by using Hiccup and his ability to train dragons.

In regards to those on Hiccup and Snotlout's side Mrs Ingerman and Mrs Thornston had already made it very clear that they fully supported the two cousins. Mrs Thornston had hinted when she visited earlier that her children had already resolved to apologise and Stoick was pleased that the twins also seemed to understand what was needed. Fishlegs had already given his apology but his mother had come by earlier and had left a gift of cakes for the two cousins as her way of saying sorry for not doing more for them, Stoick had kept it aside thinking it best to bring out when they were all a bit more sure of where all the other riders stood and there was less uncertainty. Gobber had always supported both boys so there was little he needed to prove but the blacksmith had still helped out by bringing his friend odd bits of info he'd heard around the village that Stoick might have missed, hence why he was aware of Borik's actions. Between the four of them there was a sort of unspoken agreement that they'd handle issues regarding the rest of the village's reactions to the emotions Hiccup and Snotlout had finally vented, the two boys had enough to worry about from the potential reactions of the other riders.

Despite everything he'd picked up, Stoick still didn't really know how things were going to go from here. He was certain from what their mother had said that the twins were set to give their own apology but he still worried how that would go. Hiccup and Snotlout had started the road to forgiving Fishlegs but while he'd hurt them deeply the twins had in some ways been worse, he wasn't sure if they'd receive the same faith Fishlegs had. Astrid was a complete unknown, neither Hiccup nor Snotlout had mentioned her and Stoick himself hadn't seen her since Snotlout had come home weeping on the night of Thawfest. Normally she was a cool headed girl but it was well known that she often let strong emotions, like anger, control her decisions which was why she was quick to physically strike out. Many times you'd see her aggressive actions as being justified but there had been moments when she'd actually been in the wrong and she could get aggressive very quickly. He hoped that the reason she hadn't been seen much was because she was planning to apologise and she was taking time to carefully consider what she was going to say so that she got it right.

Stoick sighed knowing that, in a way, it was pointless for him to keep thinking about how it could or couldn't go. Whatever happened between the riders was entirely up to them now and it wouldn't do for the rest of them to try and interfere without being asked, no matter which way they wanted things to go.

The teens had to take the steps themselves.

* * *

 _ **PS-So that's chapter 14 and I hope it was worth the wait. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update sooner next time.**_


	15. Sincerely Read

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 15, this chapter actually makes this my longest single plot based story (I don't count my Star Trek fic 'Unofficial Rules') and it's still not finished yet. Thank you everyone who has been supporting this fic and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Sincerely Read**

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were, for once, completely united in their goal.

On the day both Hiccup and Snotlout vented their emotions the twins had spent a good part of that night writing out an apology with the help of their mother. They did it this way because they both found that when they wrote something out first it tended to be a lot better than if they just said it. By the following morning they had a completed apology that they hoped showed how sorry they were and had spent much of the day trying to find Hiccup and Snotlout. Considering what had been happening they thought that it would be a pretty safe bet that they'd find the two cousins hanging out together, looking back over the last ten years it was normally quite rare to find one of them without the other somewhere close by and with their emotions as high-strung as they were it was unlikely that one cousin would leave the other alone for too long. Regardless they couldn't find the cousins anywhere on Berk and it wasn't until they happened to meet Fishlegs in the afternoon that they discovered that Hiccup and Snotlout had left the village for the day. At first the twins wanted to head out and find them but Fishlegs reminded them that they were unlikely to find either of them amongst the many islands scattered around the surrounding ocean.

The afternoon turned into night and eventually morning came around once again. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were up early and hadn't slept much due to worrying about how Hiccup and Snotlout were going to react to their apology. They made their way to the chief's hut first thing feeling unusually nervous and it wasn't long before they were stood at the base of the few steps leading up to the door. Here they both hesitated as neither one of them wanted to go to the door first and they kept trying to nudge the other forward. There was a sharp muttered debate between them for a few minutes before they finally agreed to go and knock on the door together.

Just as they were about to head up the door opened and Snotlout came out.

* * *

Unusually it had been Snotlout that had woken up first and he found that he'd woken much earlier than he normally did. He tried to get up without waking Hiccup but with Hookfang and Toothless both insisting that they remained with their riders as much as possible they instantly noticed when he began getting out of bed. This meant that Hookfang also got up and stretched, unintentionally brushing Hiccup with one of his wings. The other boy awoke with a surprised yelp at this strange sensation causing both dragons to instantly move to protective positions regardless of furniture or other items. What followed was a series of bangs, crashes and other noises resulting in an overturned desk and a blizzard of parchment as Hiccup's various drawings, notes and project plans exploded out of said desk.

There was silence as Hiccup gazed around the now parchment strewn bedroom in sleepy confusion before addressing his cousin, "Um…morning?"

* * *

It took a while but between them the two cousins managed to set the room straight before heading downstairs with two sheepish looking dragons in tow.

Stoick was already gone but he'd left breakfast set out on the table for them both and they quickly demolished the food between them. When they'd finished Hiccup began collecting up the dishes as Snotlout headed out of the house, bucket in each hand, to collect some water, he stopped dead on the doorstep when he saw who was standing outside the hut.

Both he and the twins just stood staring at each other in silence apparently unsure what to do as Hookfang looked between his rider and the twins warily not knowing what to make of their reactions to each other. Hiccup didn't know what had caused his cousin to suddenly stop and he also came to the door, "Snotlout, why have you…oh!"

He also stopped behind his cousin as he saw the twins and both parties continued to stare until Ruffnut finally gave Tuffnut a hard nudge and he frantically patted down his pockets and eventually pulled out a piece of folded and slightly crumpled parchment, "Um…well we…erm…we're not that great with emotions and speaking…emotively about…emotions so…err…"

"We wrote it all down instead." Ruffnut finished.

"With mum's help." Tuffnut added.

"Yeah with mum's help."

There was more silence then Tuffnut thrust the parchment into his sister's hand and she nervously cleared her throat before she began reading aloud, "Hiccup and Snotlout. We both have things to say to you both and we ask that you listen to us for a few moments. Firstly Snotlout, we're really sorry for mocking you about being the first Jorgenson to lose Thawfest and not supporting you during the games and the last couple of months. Though we know it's the least of our trans…um…trans…"

"Transgressions." Tuffnut supplied for his sister.

"Yeah…those." Ruffnut continued, "We understand that it was the thing that was the final step too far and we are truly sorry."

Tuffnut took the parchment and continued reading, "Secondly we want to apologise for everything we did to both of you for the last ten years. We're sorry for bullying you, sorry for ostra…ostra…"

"Ostracising." This time Ruffnut helped her brother.

"Ostracising you both." Tuffnut completed his previous sentence then carried on reading, "We're sorry for making you guys the targets of our pranks and for joining the rest of the village in mocking you both. Most of all we're sorry for not sticking with you guys, for turning away just because of what everyone else was doing and saying and not seeing who you really were."

Ruffnut took the parchment again, "We know that this might not be nearly enough and that we may have done too much for you guys to ever forgive us but we promise that we'll do everything we can to prove that we mean everything we just said. Most of all we want to be your friends again if it's possible and because of this there is something we need to say…"

They both spoke together, "We are really truly sorry for everything."

In the silence that followed Snotlout found himself unable to speak as the twins gazed up at them both with a mix of remorse and hope. Their apology had been nervously and awkwardly read with hesitations and stumbles over words but the words had been sincere regardless. They'd actually cared enough to put quill to parchment and write out their apology knowing they'd never be able to find the words to say if they'd just tried to speak it, even if their mother had helped them they'd still put in time and effort which spoke volumes about how much they meant what they'd read. Looking to the side he guessed Hiccup was thinking along similar lines and that they were both remembering what Stoick had said to them the night before last. Hiccup also looked at him and they came to a silent agreement before turning back to the twins and Hiccup finally spoke, "I'm not sure we're able to forgive you just yet…" The twin's faces fell slightly and Hiccup continued, "but…" they looked up again hopefully, "We want to try and rebuild our friendship again, it might take a long time but…" Hiccup briefly looked at Snotlout and gave a small smile, "We think we can eventually do it."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut returned the smile gratefully and Hiccup and Snotlout came down the steps and held out their hands. In turn they all shook hands and the twins briefly bobbed their heads in thanks before turning away and heading off back towards their own house.

The two cousins watched them go both feeling a lot lighter than they had been and Snotlout eventually commented, "Uncle was really right about this wasn't he?"

Hiccup smiled, "Yeah, dad really got it pegged. I'm glad he was right."

"Me too."

They remained standing there for a few moments before Toothless shoved his way between them to demand his morning flight. Chuckling at the impatient Night Fury, Hiccup gave the dragon some scratches as Hookfang stole Snotlout's helmet to also demand his filght. Jokingly berating the Nightmare Snotlout retrieved his helmet and clambered onto his saddle while Hiccup also mounted Toothless. Barely waiting for their riders to get secure the two dragons launched themselves into the air eager to repeat the fun of the day before.

* * *

 _ **PS-So that's the twins apologised and for those waiting for Astrid's I'm hopefully focusing on her more next chapter. Please let me know what you thought and I'll try and update soon.**_


	16. All You Need to Do

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and here is chapter sixteen with Astrid featuring heavily in it. Thank you everyone for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **All You Need to Do**

Astrid had spent most of the last couple of days in the Academy's training ring either practicing with Stormfly or her own weapons. She'd always found that she had an easier time thinking about things when she was being active and she'd been thinking about a lot lately.

As expected her thoughts had largely remained on the situation with Snotlout and Hiccup and she was trying hard to think of the best way she could apologise to them both. She'd toyed with a variety of words and speeches that she could use but none of them felt right, she'd also considered doing the same as Fishlegs and simply approaching them with the intent to apologise and let her gut help with the rest but she didn't think that that would be the best option. Another possibility would be to write her apology out but she felt that simply reading a bit of parchment wouldn't put across the sincerity of her words very well so she'd scrapped that idea.

As she batted about and considered different ideas she continued her various drills which had become pretty much second nature over the years, time continued to pass and it didn't feel like very long before night began to fall again and she was forced to finish training and head to the Great Hall for food. She was no closer to working out how to apologise than she had been that morning and she couldn't help but feel slightly discouraged as she walked in the direction of the hall. A part of her wondered if she was actually only stalling because she was worried that neither Hiccup nor Snotlout would actually forgive her and her uncertainty was merely an excuse to avoid broaching the topic with them. As she slowly walked through the village she continued to wrestle with her thoughts and she was so focused on them she walked automatically. Just as she was about to enter the Great Hall the door suddenly opened and she nearly walked right into the very two people she'd simultaneously did and didn't want to see right at that moment.

Hiccup and Snotlout.

* * *

Dinner at the Great Hall was something that happened every night but it varied how many people actually ate there. Largely it was the single adult Vikings who went regularly as many families preferred to eat together in their own homes, sometimes teenagers or children whose parents were away or busy would also eat there as Hiccup and Snotlout had done several times before, some people just sought the company of friends in the evenings and others simply didn't have any food in their own house on that particular night.

Hiccup and Snotlout fell into the final category that evening and since Stoick was otherwise engaged in his chieftain duties they'd opted to eat in the Great Hall in the early evening. They'd initially been nervous as it would've been the first time they'd been amongst the rest of the village since Snotlout's explosion at Fishlegs two days prior so they weren't sure how things were going to go. They'd slipped in with Hookfang and Toothless following them and headed over to a largely empty table in a secluded corner, there was a bit of muttering and some whispers among the Vikings as they went past but people were largely too occupied with their own conversations to really notice the two cousins and accompanying dragons.

Their meal passed happily as both of them were still feeling good after accepting the twin's apology that morning and they talked and joked after the serious business of eating had been dealt with. As time passed the nearly constant flow of Vikings in and out of the hall dwindled and Hiccup and Snotlout decided to return home for the night. As they exited the hall their feeling of contentment evaporated as they came face to face with Astrid.

All three showed looks of surprise and things quickly became awkward. They only got worse as nearby Vikings noticed what was happening as well as the tension between the teens and began watching to see what would happen.

* * *

Snotlout didn't know what he felt right at that moment. In a way Astrid was the first one to hurt him out of all the teens, though he understood her reasons now she'd been the first one to turn away from them and it was made worse by the fact she'd once been one of his closest friends. He and Hiccup would always greet her with a hug every time they met and did the same when they said goodbye. Their shared interest in the ways of weaponry and warriors meant that he and Astrid spent a lot of time together. Though many of the memories were blurry now he could remember spending a lot of time with her playing with toy axes and swords or inventing tales of heroic warriors going on noble quests or winning epic battles. Sadly the clearest memory he had was when she'd made it clear that those days were over and that she no longer wanted anything to do with him or Hiccup. She'd said that she wanted to train properly and that he and Hiccup would only hold her back and those words had struck hard forcing him to accept that he was no longer wanted by one of his best friends.

It was this that caused him to not know what he was feeling, on one hand he wanted that friendship back and fix what had been broken but on the other hand he didn't know if it ever could or if he even wanted to fix it in case he lost it again. All this caused a confusion of emotions in him and he didn't know what to do about them.

Astrid herself looked like she would rather be anywhere else and seemed ready to simply turn away and run but she took a deep breath, noticeably mustered her courage and finally spoke, "Hiccup, Snotlout…" She sighed before continuing, "To be honest I have no idea what I'm supposed to say since a simple 'sorry' is nowhere near enough to cover everything I've done. I could also make promises about being better but you have no way of guaranteeing that I'm going to keep them and I don't see how they're going to make the hurt lessen. On top of that I can't even truthfully say I understand everything you've been through because I've never experienced it so I really don't know what I could say or do to make it right." She closed her eyes and looked down, "I realise now that I never saw how hard you both tried to prove your worth and I never thought about what my actions were doing. I didn't see the hurt, I didn't see the feelings of rejection and I didn't see how prejudiced I was being alongside everyone else. For that I want to apologise with all my heart and I want to make amends anyway I can. I know it won't take away the years of hurt, I know it won't make it as if our treatment of you both never happen but I need to make sure that I don't treat you that way ever again." She looked back up at them both with her eyes were watering, "Please tell me how I can do that, how can I make sure to never treat you like that ever again?" There was silence as if everything was waiting for the cousins' answer as Snotlout wrestled with his own emotions. As the silence continued Astrid's eyes fell and Snotlout made his decision.

He stepped forward and hugged her just like he did to greet and say farewell to her when they'd been five as he answered, "Don't turn away from us again."

She gently returned the embrace, "I won't." She answered softly, "I might argue with you, I might disagree with you and I might compete with you but I'll never turn away from you, I promise."

He smiled, "Then that's all you need to do."

They slowly separated and saw Hiccup still standing where he was, Astrid looked at him nervously, "Hiccup?"

He stepped forward and stood before her his face neutral. He then punched her in the arm before smiling and giving her a hug as well. They came apart and smiled at each other as Hiccup finally spoke, "It won't erase the years of our broken friendships but we can still try again and get it right this time."

The three smiled at each other before joining in a three way embrace that lasted until Toothless decided to join the hug too and caused it to collapse.

* * *

 _ **PS-So there's Astrid's apology and I hope it meet expectations. There'll be at least one more chapter after this to wrap things up so let me know what you thought and I'll try to update soon.**_


	17. True Friends

_**Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hello everyone and welcome to the final chapter of Unnoticed and Unsaid. Thank you everyone for your reviews, favourites and follows of this story as they've really helped me keep going with it. I may update my HTTYD oneshot collection 'Happenings of Berk' soon but I should probably return to 'Of Fire and Warp Drives' soon as well, both of which are actually based in this AU. Thank you again for your support of this fic and I hope you enjoy the last chapter.**_

 _ **I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **True Friends**

Time had passed since Thawfest and its aftermath and Stoick was proud of how far both Hiccup and Snotlout had come in regard to the others.

After the apologies from the other teens many other villagers also followed suit in various ways, some gave spoken apologies, others gave gifts of food as their way of saying sorry while some just made a point of noticing and speaking to the two boys when they were around the village. Boirk Ingerman remained entirely opposed to Snotlout but most ignored him and accepted that he wasn't going to change his mind any time soon. Things nearly went back several steps when they had the trouble with the metal perches and the lightning that nearly caused the village to throw Toothless off the island but the other teens rallied behind Hiccup and it was this that caused most villagers to apologise. After this event the Academy finally restarted after its sudden, unplanned break and the teens began meeting regularly again. Even then things weren't as they were because although the cousins had accepted the apologies of the others they were still wary and slightly mistrustful of them but they were well on their way down the path to giving their full forgiveness.

The following events only pushed them further on down the road, first came Toothless' Whispering Death rival then the peace treaty with Dagur that almost failed and caused war. These were followed by Snotlout and Hiccup unintentionally crashing on Outcast Island and the dangerous retrieval of the chest from Breakneck Bog. All of these served to improve the teen's friendships but it was the events of Bork week that really pushed the boys to the cusp of fully forgiving the others.

It was these thoughts that sprung to mind on the evening just after the dragon parade finished when Astrid approached Stoick with an idea for a surprise for Hiccup and Snotlout. She'd obviously put a lot of thought into her plan and she apparently already had the support of the other teens as well as several of the adults and he gave her his permission to continue with the scheme.

* * *

The day after the dragon parade gave Hiccup a lot to think about.

He was certain that Alvin would find out what he'd taught Mildew one way or another and although he hadn't taught the old man much beyond forming a basic bond of trust with a dragon it was not good if Alvin discovered it, even a partially trained dragon in Alvin's hands could prove devastating to Berk. The conditions the dragons were kept in on Outcast Island also bothered him but he couldn't really do much to help them right now and he didn't like it.

His thoughts were interrupted by Snotlout walking into their bedroom and Hiccup looked up from his desk where he'd been sketching while thinking. His cousin was holding the book of dragons and he held it out with a look of embarrassment on his face, "Um…Fishlegs just gave me this. He said it would be good if I added stuff about Monstrous Nightmares to it but I can't…well…you know." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Uncle then suggested that I get you to help me and we could both add stuff from Bork's notes to it seeing as the others said they won't be able to be at the Academy today."

Hiccup understood Snotlout's embarrassment because he was well aware that the younger cousin was barely literate and it and been immensely difficult to even get him to that level, the others weren't aware of Snotlout's difficulty with written word and they'd decided it was best to keep it that way. Hiccup nodded at his cousin, "Yeah that actually is a good idea. If we can't train with the others then it would be good to take some time and update the book, I didn't actually think to add the information in Bork's notes to it."

Snotlout handed him the book and grabbed a stool which sat in the corner and placed at the desk beside Hiccup. There was a scrabbling sound and Hookfang shoved his head through the large window above Toothless' bed where the Night Fury was resting, Toothless looked up at the Nightmare and gave a series of friendly growls before looking at his rider. Hiccup smiled at his friend, "We're probably going to be here a while Toothless so don't worry about hanging around in here all day."

Toothless gave a crooning noise to both boys before jumping out of the window to join Hookfang outside, there were happy barks and growls as the two dragons began playing and chasing each other around the outside of the house. Hiccup and Snotlout grinned at each other before turning their attention to Bork's notes and the Book of Dragons.

* * *

Beyond the house the other riders and a few of the other villagers began a series of secretive activities.

Various barrels and crates started being shifted out of the village and into the forest and the twins' mother and Fishleg's mother were in a baking frenzy. Fishlegs, his father and Astrid's father were largely doing the heavy lifting as Ruffnut and Tuffnut alternated with each other between helping the others and keeping an eye on the Chief's hut in case the cousins showed any sign of coming out of it. Astrid was at the surprise's location with Gobber to organise everything there while Stoick was largely doing his duties as normal while distracting curious villagers from the unusual work that was happening. As the day progressed so did the preparations and after a while most of the activity in the village slowed as everything finally ended up where it was supposed to be and the work shifted there. Occasionally someone would frantically run back into the village to fetch something that had either been missed or just thought of and any Vikings not in the know would give them curious looks as they came and then went again as quickly.

Eventually everything was ready and everyone involved stood back and admired their handy work as Astrid folded her arms in satisfaction, "Now to bring Hiccup and Snotlout here."

* * *

Snotlout rubbed his eyes tiredly as he stood up from his stool.

He and Hiccup had been dealing with Bork's notes and the Book of Dragons most of the day and it had been hard work for him. At first it had simply been a case of Snotlout saying what new things he'd discovered about Monstrous Nightmares from Hookfang as Hiccup wrote them in the book, then it morphed into Hiccup giving Snotlout one-to-one lesson on what was in the Book of Dragons. As Snotlout couldn't read very well he hadn't actually read most of what had been written in it which was why he was missing a lot of background dragon knowledge and Hiccup had taken the opportunity to teach him what he didn't know. With Hiccup's patient teaching method Snotlout had actually learned a lot more about the different dragons than he would've done otherwise or from anyone else and he was quite pleased he'd done it. However he could only cope with learning via lecture or writing for so long and by the time evening was drawing in his brain had finally had enough and was point blank refusing to focus on anything related to books or learning. Hiccup had noticed this and they'd both decided that was enough for one day and it was time to do something else.

They'd just stepped outside to find out if Hookfang and Toothless were still playing outside when Stormfly landed nearby and Astrid quickly spoke, "Hiccup, Snotlout! We really need you two right now!"

Hiccup was instantly on alert, "Why? What's happened?"

Astrid answered impatiently, "No time to explain. Just get on your dragons and follow me and Stormfly."

Toothless and Hookfang had come running up to greet Stormfly and the two cousins shared a brief look before quickly mounting their dragons and taking to the sky to follow the Nadder who was already back in the air. As they flew over the forest Hiccup tried to find out what was going on but Astrid wouldn't give him a straight answer and Snotlout wondered what had happened. They hadn't been flying long when they began descending again and Snotlout easily recognised the Cove from above but there seemed to be something different about it and there was a strange glow coming from it, as they landed Hiccup and Snotlout simply stared at their surroundings in surprise and confusion at the changes made to Cove.

Lanterns ringed the entire Cove giving a warm glow to their surroundings and reflecting brightly off the still water of the pool, four tables sat evenly spaced beside the water baring plates of food and scattered with decorative flowers, more decorations hung around the Cove alongside the lanterns and more were placed upon or wrapped artfully around the various large boulders giving everything a celebratory air. As Snotlout gazed around his eyes fell on Astrid who was standing by the tables alongside Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, his uncle, Gobber, Fishlegs' parents and the twins' mother, Astrid smiled at him and spoke to them both, "Well, what do you think?"

Hiccup was still looking around in awe, "It's…its incredible." He looked at them all, "Why did you…?"

"We did for you two." Astrid answered, "We thought you both deserved something after everything you've been through." She looked down slightly, "It's been a while since Thawfest and everything we realised then and the promises we made to you both but we felt that we needed to do this." She looked back up and smiled, "You didn't have to accept our apologies or even trust our promises but you both gave us a chance to make amends." She gestured to the scene around them, "This is our way of saying thank you for giving us that chance and to affirm that we'll always try to do our best to support you guys in whatever way we have to."

The others gathered behind her smiled and nodded to show they agreed with everything Astrid had said and in the silence that followed her words the cousins looked at each other and Snotlout knew that Hiccup was thinking the same as him. Almost as one they both shot forward and gave Astrid a huge hug, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut hesitated for a second before also joining the hug and soon the dragons also decide to join in and they ended up in a happy tangle of limbs, wings and tails as the adults laughed.

They'd finally reached full forgiveness.

* * *

That night proved to be one long remembered and filled with happiness.

After the dragon and teen pile had been untangled the party got underway as everyone attacked the food with gusto, they hadn't bothered with bringing seats so everyone either stood or perched on rocks, boulders or dragons to eat. Happy laughter and conversation rang through the air as the teens talked and joked with each other and fun was had by all. Gobber had brought his pan pipes and Astrid's father had his hand drum and they teamed up with Mrs Thornston and her voice to play a series of festive tunes, Astrid, Hiccup and Snotlout then started a three way dance as their dragons bounded around them and Fishlegs found himself with the twins and proved himself to be an excellent dancer. Fishlegs' father then handed his drum over to his son briefly for a slower tune as he took his wife for an elegant waltz while the others took a short break before returning to the fast paced steps of quicker tunes. Eventually people grew too tired to continue the rapid dances and they all settled down to simply listen as Mrs Thornston sang them some of her favourite ballads and Tuffnut swore blind that he was certainly not crying as he listened, Gobber then started on one of his famous stories and while few believed what he said it made a good tale none the less.

As night wore on things began to wind down and Stoick and Fishlegs' mother quietly began tidying what they could. As they worked Mrs Ingerman suddenly nudged the chief and simply gestured towards a bunch of boulders when he looked at her, he looked where she indicated and a smile grew on his face at the sight before him.

What he saw was a veritable pile of dragons and dragon riders. Hookfang and Barf and Belch were side by side at the bottom and he could see Snotlout curled between the Nightmare's horns while the twins were lying either side of the Zippleback's spine ridge, Toothless was curled around Hiccup on top of Hookfang while Stormfly and Astrid had settled between Barf and Belch's necks and Fishlegs and Meatlug had wedged themselves between the Nightmare and Zippleback. Stoick chuckled at what he saw before turning back to Fishlegs' mother, "Looks like they won't be going back home to sleep tonight."

The twin's mother came up carrying a bundle of blankets also smiling, "I had a feeling something like this would happen so I brought these."

They each took a blanket or two each and softly trod over to the sleeping Academy members, a couple of pairs of dragon eyes opened at their approach but they soon closed again when they saw who was approaching and Stoick was reminded how glad he was for the protective instincts they had for their riders. He went to Snotlout first and carefully placed one of the blankets he had over his nephew and tucked it around him, Snotlout gave a small noise in his sleep but barely stirred at his uncle's touch and Stoick gently kissed his forehead. Seeing that Hookfang was awake and knew what he was doing the chief then carefully climbed up the Nightmare's back to Toothless and Hiccup. Toothless looked up at him as he got near and simply watched as he tucked the second of his blankets around Hiccup, his soon gave a couple of sleepy grunts and shuffled a bit but didn't wake and Stoick also kissed his son's forehead before silently climbing back down to the ground. He looked and saw that a similar thing had happened to the other riders and their parents tried to remain as quiet as they could as they stole over to the Cove exit to return home safe in the knowledge that their children were in good hands or, in this case, claws with their dragons.

The moon shone down brightly on the scene as the teens slept on peacefully having finally reached the end of their journey of forgiveness and in the certainty that they were once again true friends.

* * *

 _ **PS-So that's it all finished and I hope you liked it, please let me know what you thought and I'll probably update one of my other fics soon. Until then goodbye and thank you for reading.**_


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